FLCL: Second
by IIITriadIII
Summary: Naota's life may seem ordinary, four years after Medical Mechanica was stopped and Haruko left, but will it ever change?  A certain love of his life will try to make sure it does, and a new adventure unfolds!  Rated T for violence?
1. Intro

_Four years..._

Naota Nandaba lived his life after the strange events four years before. He was never happy anymore, after the two most important people in his life decided to leave him for something bigger.

One of those people was Samejima Mamimi, His older brother Tasuku's ex-girlfriend, and one of Naota's best friends. She had decided to pursue a career in photography in America. Naota personally thinks she just went to find Tasuku.

The other person is Haruhara Haruko, the strange Vespa driving, bass guitar weilding alien who had used him to find the most powerful space pirate in the galaxy, Atomsk. She had got him by using the vast amounts of N.O. energy in Naota's head. He had fell in love with her and her strange ways during her visit to Earth. After Atomsk was released, he escaped, and Haruko left Earth on her flying Vespa to search for him.

Naota only wished he would have said yes to coming with her when he had the chance.

She had asked him that, but before he had a chance to think of an answer, she decided for him.

_You know what? Forget it. Because your still just a kid, Ta-kun. Save it for next time. _These words had echoed in Naota's head ever since he heard them.

Next time.

Was there ever going to be a next time?

Naota never felt happiness or joy, he just wanted to get life over with. He never tries anything new, just the same old routine everyday. Wake up, go to school, go home, eat, sleep.

And after four years of an unoriginal life, he wanted change. He didn't care how, he just wanted it. Needed it.

After the events of four years ago, not much changed. The parts of the city that were destroyed were repaired, that Amarao guy left to wherever, and Eri Ninamori and other friends continued to go through the same unoriginal life Naota did.

Naota sometimes wondered if Haruko remembered him.

Naota also wondered if Haruko would come back. It was farfetched, but he always had hopes. He didn't care if Mamimi came back. Haruko was the love of his life, so to speak. Haruko had changed Naota's life in a way no one else could, and he would never forget her.

Would she ever come back? She said _next time_, so it couldn't be the last time he saw her. But you never know, sometimes life comes at you like an alien on a Vespa.


	2. A Still Normal Life

_Ok, sorry i didn't post one of these before, but its in the rules and guidelines. I do not own FLCL or any of its characters, but i do own any original content. I hope you enjoy my story as much as i enjoy writing it!_

_This is my first fanfic, and i'm going to try my hardest to make it a good one. If you have any ideas for the series, PLEASE don't hesitate to tell me, for i get writers block easily, and when i write, i mostly rely on ideas from the public for inspiration. Thanks, and enjoy!_

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><p><em>BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP<em>

Naota lay in bed, trying to ignore the sound of the buzzing alarm clock.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP_

Naota tossed and turned in bed, still trying to ignore the alarm clock.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Naota opened his eyes, looking straight up at the bottom of the top bunk. He couldn't stand it anymore, and he didn't want to go to school, but he knew that Eri Ninamori would be mad if he didn't go.

So he sat up, rubbed his eyes, and pressed the _snooze_ button on the clock. He stood up, stretching and yawning, and he walked to his dresser to get his school uniform on.

_Just another day in boring ol' Mabase,_ Naota thought to himself. He then looked over to the blue Rickenbacker guitar propped up in the corner of the room, and sighed. He remembered everything that had happened four years ago.

Naota had changed since then. He had grown much taller, and he had let his hair grow a little past his shoulders, for he was trying to adopt the American 80's rocker look. He had taught himself how to play the bass, but he never touched the Rickenbacker, for he had bought another bass some time before.

After getting dressed, he went downstairs to find his father, grandfather, and Canti already in the kitchen. His father and grandfather were at the table eating their breakfast, while Canti, the family's robot servant, was busy making Naota's.

Naota sat down and fiddled with his silverware. His father looked up from his food and saw Naota, and seemed to be startled by him.

"Ah, Naota, good to see that your here with us today. How long have you been sitting there? I didn't see you come in." Naota chuckled to himself. "For about five seconds, dad." Naota's father was as strange as usual. Naota's grandfather just continued to eat. Canti brought over a plate of mild curry for Naota. Naota didn't understand the big demand for curry in the household. It was all they ever ate, and he didn't like spicy stuff.

After breakfast, Naota left the house/bakery for school. On his way there, he saw his friend Ninamori waiting for him at the crosswalk. Naota figured she would be here, she was like his own personal truancy officer. She always paid the his family a visit whenever he had missed school, giving him a speech about not missing school. But she was always there for him in times of need. Naota had always considered her his best friend.

Ninamori had also changed since four years ago. She was one of the lucky ones, so she grew to be tall as well. She was nearly as tall as Naota, and she had let her purple hair grow past her chest area.

"Good to see you got up for school today, _delinquent_" Ninamori joked and elboed Naota's arm playfully. Naota said nothing, but smiled a little and kept walking, with Ninamori next to him. It always seemed like Ninamori's big mission was to make Naota's life a little brighter, while delivering a little discipline when needed.

As they were going across the old bridge, Ninamori looked at Naota, who was looking down at the ground while he walked, and she sensed something going on with him. She was curious, as usual. "You ok, Naota?" She asked while they walked. Naota looked back at her and answered with a nod. She wasn't convinced.

"You looked bothered by something." she said. "It's nothing," Naota replied. Ninamori still wasn't satisfied, so she walked in front of Naota, blocking his path.

"It's her, isn't it? That one Haruko person?" She asked, with an interrogative look on her face. Naota looked over to the dent in the railing, put there by two battling robots four years ago. He knew she wasn't going to leave him alone until he told her, so he decided to come clean.

"Yeah, it is." Naota replied. Ninamori's expression softened, and she moved next to him, putting an arm on his shoulder. "Come on, Naota, forget about her, she isn't coming back." Naota felt a little pang of pain and anger when she said _that_, but he quickly recovered.

"You don't know that." Naota said, trying not to sound agressive. Ninamori said nothing, and they continued to walk to school. Naota had always told himself that she would come back for him someday, but deep inside he knew that she didn't come to Earth for him, but for that pirate king guy, Atomsk. But it felt like they had both grown close during her stay. She had even left her guitar there for him.

Naota just didn't know anymore. He looked straight ahead and kept walking. Ninamori lifted her arm off him and continued to walk with him, a concerned look on her face.

Once they got to school, they both walked into the classroom and sat down in their assigned seats. Their teacher, ironically their old sixth grade teacher Miyaji Junko, sat at her desk, writing on a peice of paper. She had got a job at the high school a year before, and she now taught math and cooking class there. She looked up from writing, seeing that the whole class was there, ans she stood up from her desk and walked to the chalkboard.

"Hello class!" The whole class responded witha dull "Hello, Miss Junko." "I hope everyone remembered to study for the algebra test!" With that, the entire class groaned. Naota rest his head on his hand and looked at the blank chalkboard.

_Just another day in boring ol' Mabase._

/FLCL\

After school, Ninamori wanted Naota to stay for a little while to watch her rehearse for a Romeo and Juliet play. Naota didn't like plays, but after remembering the play incident four years ago, he decided to stay. Before Ninamori's part, she took him backstage to show him some of the props, and gave him a quick look at the script.

"Why show me the script?" He asked. "Its not like ive never read Romeo and Juliet before." Ninamori just put her costume hat on and said "Don't be a sore loser, Naota." Naota leaned against one of the walls and looked out the side of the curtains to watch the rehearsal.

After Ninamori's part, she walked backstage to change back into her normal clothes. When they were about to leave, Ninamori stopped him.

"Naota, you've been acting strange lately, and i'm not convinced it's just Haruko." Naota just sighed and turned around to look at her, his eyes an icy blue.

"It's Tasuku." Naota said grimly. Ninamori stood there, worried for Naota.

"What about Tasuku?" she asked him.

"He got injured after a baseball game. Apparently, his manager made a deal with this criminal gang. One of the big mafia ones. They wanted to team up with them to make a bunch of money. Tasuku's team lost the next game, and they weren't happy about it. They took it out on all of the team members. Tasuku most of all. They said that if they lost another game, it would be worse. My family is worried about him."

Naota looked down, and grimly said "I'm worried about him."

Ninamori stood there, shocked. She didn't know what to say about this. Naota's brother's baseball team involved with criminals? It just didn't seem right.

Ninamori put her hands on Naota's shoulders. Naota looked up, his bangs covering his sad expression slightly. Ninamori never saw Naota like this. She couldn't stand it! She knew that Naota was never the same after the Medical Mechanica incident, but this was too much.

Ninamori then pulled Naota close and hugged him. Naota was surprised by this, but he recovered, and he limply hugged her back.

They stood like that for a while. Ninamori pulled away for a moment, still holding him, and she planted a light kiss on his forehead. Naota looked up a little bit, and the look on his face said it all. _Thank you._ He then laid his head back down on her shoulder, and they hugged again.

Naota looked and felt as if he was about to cry. He idolized his brother as a kid, and they always kept in touch. Ninamori could relate to this. She had experienced some rough times in her family as well, specifically the near divorce of her parents. She was mature about that, and said she didn't really care about it. This was different, and she really felt for Naota.

After a while, they started to head home. Since they both lived on opposite sides of town, Ninamori and Naota separated at a crosswalk. Before she left, however, she had lightly kissed Naota on the forehead again, and he responded with a light smile.

Naota didn't feel like going home immediately, so he sat down on the bridge, propped against the railing. He thought about his brother and the predicament he was in. He wished he could be there to comfort Tasuku, to encourage him, but he could only talk to him through letters and the rare occaisonal telephone call. He hoped that his older brother could find a way to solve it. He sat on the bridge, deep in thought.

After a few minutes of sitting, he looked over to the vending machine and decided to get a drink. He got up, dug some change out of his pocket, paying the machine, then looked at the buttons symbolizing the drink choices. He remembered how Mamimi would always beat him to the button and get him the sour kind instead.

He made his choice. He hesitated, then he pressed the button for the black sour soda. He didn't know why he chose that kind, it just seemed right.

He popped the tab and took a swig of it, then he sat down again. He wished someone was there, someone he could talk to, like Ninamori. He sat there for a long time, deep in thought.

He thought about Haruko. He remembered the Medical Mechanica factory. He remembered how he first met her, the unfortunate accident with the getting ran over by her Vespa, and then getting the biggest headache ever from a certain Rickenbacker guitar to the forehead.

He remembered how Canti first came out of his head that one night on the bridge, and the other robots. Most of all, he remembered the giant hand statue, the factory pouring out steam, Earth nearly getting ironed out, Atomsk coming out of his head and absorbing the hand, and the kiss with Haruko.

Last of all, he remembered Haruko getting on her Vespa, flying away into the sky, climbing up the rubble to find her Rickenbacker, then standing up there, holding it.

_Did she love me then? Does she still love me, wherever she is? If not, does she at least still remember me?_

He sat there for hours thinking about it, and it was probably close to seven o' clock when he finally decided to go home.

When he got home, Kamon asked him why he got home so late. Naota told him that he hung out by the bridge, and he seemed satisfied.

Before Naota went upstairs, Kamon gave him a letter. "It was in the mailbox," he explained. Naota nodded, and went upstairs with the letter. Once he got to his room, he sat on his bed, tore open the letter, and read its contents. There was one sentence, and no signature or name of writer. The sentence read: "Get ready, Ta-kun, I'm coming back."

Naota was curious by this. Who was coming back? There were only two people who called him Ta-kun... He didn't know, but he decided to think about it later. He changed into some pajamas, and fell asleep in a few minutes, the letter still on his mind.

_I'm coming back_... This was all Naota could think about while he slept.

/End Credits\

Haruko's voice: Things seem ordinary, don't they? Well don't get too comfortable with this ordinary thing, because some things change! Who is the one who sent the strange letter? Next time, on _FLCL Second_: _Reunions and Headaches, and Big Surprises!_

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><p><em>I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and i hope it wasn't too short for you, i will try to make coming chapters longer if your not satisfied.<em>

_I will upload more chapters according to my agenda. At the moment, i am in the middle of summer break, so updates will most likely be frequent. Please review, and provide constructive criticism if needed. Thanks for reading this chapter, and i'll see you in the next episode!_

_-The Gman_


	3. Reunions, Headaches, and Surprises!

_Dagnabbit, I'm late! Sorry guys, I've been working on some other projects and i didn't have time to work on this, but now i'm back in business and i'm going to try to write and post some new chapters as quickly as possible. l admit, I'm less than satisfied with the first chapter myself, and i'm thinking about revising it._

_Thanks to anyone who's sticking with me on this one, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter!_

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><p><em>Where am I?<em>

Naota was standing outside the Medical Mechanica plant. It was dusk. There was a red light flashing high in the sky.

The image suddenly changed to the top of the factory. He was 12 again. He was holding his old guitar, the 1967 Flying V, while the giant baseball shaped bomb was flying towards him.

_Is this a dream?_

Just before the bomb hits, the image changes to his kitchen table. Everyoone was sitting down and eating, but there was someone else sitting at the far end. He couldn't tell who, it was just a shadow, but it somehow looked very familiar.

_Is that..._

The scene then changed to Naota's bedroom. He is laying in bed, with Haruko on top of him, wearing just her pink towel to cover her.

"Enjoying this, Ta-kun?" Haruko's voice sounded so real.

"What... where am I? Is this a dream?" Naota asks, nervous.

Haruko lowered herself down closer to Naota. She put her lips right up to his ear.

"Only if you want it to be." She whispered quietly. She pressed herself against Naota, and started to nibble on his earlobe. Naota just lay there in surprise. Haruko then lifted her head up so their noses were a hairsbreadth away from each other, she moved in and locked her lips with Naota's. Naota opened his eyes wide in surprise.

_Is this real? No, it can't be... Im dreaming right now, aren't I?_

Haruko lifted her head up and put her mouth near Naota's ear again. She sighed, but it sounded more like a moan. There was a pause, then she spoke.

"Wake up."

At that moment, Naota woke up from his dream and sprang up from his bed and looked around. Satisfied that no one was there, he sat down on the edge of the bed.

It took Naota several minutes to fathom what had just happened.

_It was just a dream, but it seemed like real life..._

He looked at the clock, It read 6:00 on the dot.

"Wonderful," He thought aloud. "Time for school."

He skipped putting on his uniform and walked down the stairs. Canti was up making breakfast. Kamon and Shigekuni were still asleep in their bedrooms. Naota walked into the kitchen.

"Canti, what day is today?" Naota said, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Canti turned towards him, and a picture of a calendar flashed onto his TV screen face. A red circle went around the 6th, a Saturday. Naota sighed with relief.

"You need any help with breakfast?" Naota asked the robot. Canti shook his head, then he picked up two plates of curry and brought them to the table. He went back and got another plate of curry, also picking up the box for it, showing it to Naota. It was mild, thankfully.

Naota smiled. "Thanks, Canti." he said to the robot. The robot's screen flashed with a thumbs up symbol, and he brought the plate to the table.

Canti was nice. Naota didn't know why, but Canti always seemed to try to make his life better in little ways, like making him mild curry instead of the spicier kind, unlike a certain pink haired individual... The robot was the family's servant ever since he came out of Naota's head that one night at the bridge.

Kamon came from his room upstairs and sat down at the table. Shigekuni then came in from the other room, also sitting down.

"Good morning, Naota. I hope you slept well." Kamon said sleepily. "Yeah i did, thanks dad." Naota replied. But he was actually worried about the dream he had. They weren't like the other dreams he had, this one seemed so realistic...

Kamon suddenly broke the silence. "We got another letter from Tasuku yesterday. I wanted to save it for this morning so we could all read it." He went back to his room to get the letter, then he sat back down at the table. He ripped it open, unfolded the contents and read it aloud.

"Dear Dad, Grandpa, and Naota," Kamon began, "because of the recent events that have been going on here, I've decided to quit baseball- Wait, what?" The entire family exclaimed at once. Canti's TV screen face lit up with an exclamation point. "Keep reading it!" Shigekuni said. Kamon returned to reading the letter.

"I hope this doesn't upset you. The stakes have just been too high lately, and i need a break from the sports business anyway. I miss all of you, and I'll keep in touch. Sincerely, Tasuku." Kamon finished reading the letter, and set it down on the table.

"Tasuku quit the team? I can't believe it!" Shigekuni exclaimed. "Well,there were a lot of problems going on down there, ever since the team made that deal with the mafia," Naota said, "so it seems like its for the best." Shigekuni nodded his head. Kamon had a sad and shocked look on his face. He quickly recovered. "Well, it's his choice anyway," Kamon said, "so we might as well not dwell on it. He is still the Tasuku we all know and love."

They all ate for the next few minutes. After Naota was done, he excused himself and went upstairs to his room. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

_I can't believe that he quit baseball_, Naota thought to himself. _That stupid manager, having to make a deal with the mafia! I mean, why would anyone want to make a deal with them?_ Naota decided not to trouble himself about it. After all, his father was right, he is still Tasuku. Naota sighed and sat there for a few more minutes, before getting bored and tried to find something to do.

While he was walking around the room, his eyes came into contact with the Rickenbacker bass. He just stood there for a moment, having insta-flashbacks of Haruko.

_Your the one i saw first, Ta-kun_

He could remember that like it was yesterday.

He walked to the guitar and picked it up. He rarely picked it up, only doing so to polish it. This time, he just stood there, gripping onto it. He walked back to his bed and sat down on it, examining the guitar. He ran a finger down the edge of the body, where Haruko had constantly bashed him in the head with it. He just looked at the strings for a while.

After about a minute of staring at the guitar, the bottom string of the guitar plucked itself, almost magically. Naota jumped up at this, screaming. He looked around to make sure no one was there, and he looked back to the strings.

_What the hell..._

The string played itself again, and Naota jumped. He was bewildered. He didn't know how the guitar was doing that. He quickly set the guitar back in the corner. He stared at it for a moment, then he quickly got dressed in jeans, his white 90 degrees t-shirt, which surprisingly still fit him, and sneakers, and he ran downstairs and out the front door. He ran away from the house as fast as he could.

He kept running until he got to the bridge. He wasn't paying attention to where he was running, he just got there somehow. It seemed like he always ended up there whenever he wandered or just wasn't paying attention. He stopped running, put his hands on his knees while he stood and panted from running.

_What the hell! The guitar was playing itself! How the hell is that possible?_ Thoughts went through his head a million miles an hour. How did the guitar play itself was the main question he had. Did this have anything to do with that strange letter he got?

Meanwhile, a yellow Vespa sat up on the nearby road. The owner of the vehicle was sitting on top of it, looking through a pair of binoculars. She was female. Her face was obscured by a helmet and goggles, but small tufts of light pink, almost peach colored hair hung out of it here and there. A large double necked guitar hung off the back of the Vespa.

The driver was looking towards the bridge, and she noticed a boy of about 15 or 16 standing on the bridge. It took a few moments before she recognized him. The driver grinned, and took a bite out of a candy bar. She then put the kickstand of the Vespa up, fired up the engine and drove across the road, turning onto the road towards the bridge.

_I've found you._

/FLCL\

Naota sat down on the bridge, leaning against the railing. A lot of stuff has been happening lately, and he just needed a break. First his brother says that he quit baseball, now Haruko's guitar is somehow _playing_ itself.

_I guess everything can't be normal some days_, Naota thought to himself.

Naota relaxed and closed his eyes, and he could hear the sound of car motors from on the bridge and in other parts of town. He could hear the buzzing sound of a motor scooter further away. He didn't take much notice to it. What he _did_ notice is that the sound was getting closer to the bridge. He tried not to pay it much attention, it was probably some motor scooter owner driving across the bridge.

But the sound wasn't coming from up on the bridge. It was coming from further down the bridge sidewalk. Naota opened his eyes slightly and looked in the direction of the sound. There was a large plume of dust coming his way. In front of it he could see a... Vespa?

_No, it can't be..._ Naota thought as it got closer. It was going really fast. He stood up in the middle of the sidewalk to try and get a better view.

Suddenly, the driver of the bike hit the brakes and skid across the sidewalk. The bike came to a stop a few feet in front of Naota. A few seconds later, the mini dust storm hit, and Naota covered his eyes. After it passed, he uncovered his face and looked forward at the cause of it.

It was indeed a Vespa, yellow in color. The driver still held onto the handlebars, but looked straight forward at Naota. The face of the driver was covered with a helmet and goggles, but he could recognize the pink hair that stuck out...

A familiar double necked guitar hung off the back of the Vespa by the strap. Naota could recognize that too. The driver smiled at Naota and turned off the engine.

"Well, you've really changed since I left!" The driver said. Naota definetely recognized the voice.

It _was_ her_._

Haruko. She had finally come back.

Naota didn't know what to say. After all these years, Haruko finally decided to come back.

Naota just stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at the person he once loved. _Still_ loved.

"Why are you here?" Naota said to her. Haruko put the kickstand of the Vespa down and got off it, starting to walk towards Naota. Naota just stood there, ready for anything. Haruko stopped and stood just a foot away fron Naota. She slid her biking goggles up onto her helmet, revealing her yellow eyes. They glistened in the dimming sunlight.

_She looks beautiful,_ Naota thought to himself. _She hasn't aged a day._

"You haven't aged a day" Naota spoke what he thought. Haruko smiled. "I wish I could say the same, kid." Naota smiled a little bit at this. "I don't think you can call me 'kid' anymore, im 16 now." Haruko just chuckled at this, then said "Age doesn't matter, its maturity that counts."

Naota almost laughed at this. "Since when are you so interested in philosophy?" Naota teased. Haruko laughed, and she closed the foot separating them and gave him a hug. Naota laughed too and hugged her back.

For the first time in a long time, he was happy. _Genuinely _happy. And after this he finally knew if she loved him or not, because she _did_ love him.

They pulled away from each other, both of them feeling a little awkward. Haruko looked just as happy as he did. Despite the joy of seeing each other again, there were a few questions to be asked.

"What happened to your mission of finding Atomsk?" Naota asked Haruko. She just grinned and held up her wrist, the one with the handcuff bracelet on it.

"I got him right here." Haruko said proudly. Naota looked closer at the bracelet, and he saw that there, glowing a faint red, was the mark of Atomsk on the shackle.

"You got him." Naota said quietly. "Yep!" Haruko exclaimed triumphantly.

"Thats amazing." Naota said under his breath.

"I know," Haruko said to him, "That just leaves you for me to finish up with!" She exclaimed again, and she pulled him in and gave him in again, giving him a painful looking noogie. Naota tried to pry himself away from her, but she just laughed and continued, for had too tight of a grip on him. When she finally let him go, he was trying to catch his breath.

After he was breathing normally again, suddenly, something extremely heavy whacked him in the forehead, sending him flying a few meters away. The force of the impact almost made him black out, but he was used to getting whacked in the head with stuff. When he looked up, Haruko was holding the twin neck guitar in her hands.

"What the hell was that for?" Naota yelled, clutching his aching head. Haruko just leaned on the guitar, checking her fingernails.

"Don't worry, this guitar can't open up your N.O. channel. I just did that so I could get back at you for making me feel so bad about leaving." Haruko said, still checking her fingernails. "What do you mean?" Naota yelled back at her.

Haruko walked over to Naota and helped him up off the ground. "Let me explain." She said calmly. They walked back over to the Vespa and sat down near it.

"Before I left Earth's atmosphere, I looked back at Mabase. I could see you standing on top of that spire of rubble, holding my guitar, with the saddest look on your face I've ever seen you have. When i saw you looking up into the sky, I promised myself that I would come back after I completed my mission to find Atomsk. I just couldn't stand seeing you like that, it nearly destroyed me." Haruko had a sad look on her face while Naota listened.

Haruko took off her helmet at one point, letting her pink hair flow free. They eventually sat down against the railing and talked. Naota talked about the happenings in America, and his brother. Haruko listened, for she was intrigued by earth customs, but she seemed a little bewildered when he explained what the mafia was..

Haruko talked about her adventures in deep space, her quest for Atomsk. Naota was intrigued by, well, _alien_ customs. The most interesting part of all was when she told him about when she found Atomsk.

She had found him wandering through space. He wasn't too happy about his guitar being fused with the old Flying V, so they had a little bit of a tussle. And when she said little, she didn't really mean little.

She says she came close to dying during that battle. Atomsk was, after all, the most powerful being in the universe.

But then she remembered something about her bracelet, and she used a secret technique to actually _absorb_ Atomsk into her bracelet. She says she wants to save him in there in case of an "emergency". When Naota asked her for details on how she got Atomsk into the bracelet, she just waved her finger at him and told him it was a different story.

It was getting late, so they decided to ride the Vespa home. Haruko even asked if Naota wanted to drive at one point, but he just laughed and told her they would barely drive a mile before they crashed. Haruko laughed at this as well. Haruko mounted the Vespa, Naota getting on behind her. She put her helmet on and put the goggles over her eyes and started the engine. Naota wrapped his arms around Haruko's waist and held on tight as they drove away.

As they drove back to the Nandaba house, Naota had nothing on his mind but Haruko. He couldn't believe that Haruko had finally come back after four years of an unoriginal and dull life. Had she just come back for _him_? He didn't care, as long as he knew _someone_ was there for him. Well, other than Ninamori.

For the first time in a long time, Naota felt happy and secure.

Naota felt alive.

/FLCL\

Naota and Haruko soon arrived at the Nandaba home. Kamon didn't notice them immediately. When he did, he went wide eyed, and his jaw practically dropped to the floor. His first thoughts: Fooly Cooly. It kinda figured, because thats all that Kamon talks about when Naota and Haruko are together in the same room.

At dinner, everyone eating Haruko's famous curry, Kamon had tried to flirt with Haruko, as usual. She had considered whacking him over the head with her new double necked guitar, but she decided against it. She just headed straight upstairs after dinner, ignoring Kamon, much to his dissappointment. Naota eventually followed suit, excusing himself from the dinner table and walking to his room.

He opened the door to his room and found Haruko sitting on the bed, holding her old guitar, the Rickenbacker, and examining it all over. There was a big pink bag sitting near the wall, probably Haruko's.

"What are you doing?" He asked her. She looked up at him with a grin. "Making sure nothing happened to this thing while I was gone" She replied. "I barely touch it. The only time I do is when i polish it." He said to her. A bewildered look crossed her face.

"So you never play it?" She asked him. "No, I use a different guitar" He told her. He pointed to a case in the other corner. She looked at it for a moment, then walked over to it, picking it up and opening the case. In it was a 5 string Lucite Clear Acrylic Bass. Haruko went wide eyed at it.

"Fancy!" She exclaimed, holding the guitar up to the light to examine it. There was a small sticker on the volume knob that said 'Boom!'. She smiled at this, then carried the guitar to Naota.

"Can you play something for me?" She asked him. He shook his head and said "Not tonight, I'm tired." She gave him a puppy dog look, with the watery eyes and everything. He laughed a little.

"Fine, I'll do it." He said to her. "Yay!" She exclaimed, pushing the guitar into his hands. He reached to the side and pulled a small amplifier seemingly out of nowhere. He plugged it in, then sat down on the bed.

He sat in silence for a moment, trying to think of something to play. Haruko watched him intently. He remembered a song he had heard once. It was something American, called 'Endless Drifting Wreck' or something. He started plucking the strings with his index and middle finger, playing the guitar part to the song rather than the bass part. After playing the first few measures to the song, he skipped to near the end, where the guitar solo is played.

He played it with no problem, his fingers quickly moving across the frets. Haruko continued to watch, focusing mainly on his finger movements on his left hand. He finished the solo, then played the ending measure. Haruko smiled at him.

"Your pretty good, Ta-kun! I think I could play that too..." she said to him, walking over to her double neck guitar, picking it up. She also pulled another amplifier out of the large bag of her belongings, then carrying both of them towards the bed. She sat the amplifier down next to Naota's, plugging it in, then sitting next to him in a playing position.

She had watched Naota's finger movements for a reason. She played the same thing he did on the bass neck of the guitar, an octave higher than Naota did, because his bass was a 5 string and her lowest string didn't reach that low. She played it perfectly, like she had been playing it for years. Naota just watched. He started playing at one point, both of them playing in perfect unison. When the solo started, Naota didn't play it. He played the same thing they were just playing, letting Haruko play the solo.

When they stopped playing, Haruko got up and set her guitar down, then sat closer to Naota. Naota lifted his bass off him and lay it down next to the bed. Haruko edged closer to him, wrapping her arms around his chest and laying her head down on his shoulder.

"My Ta-kun knows how to play bass, isn't that _sexy_!" Haruko purred. Naota smiled and laid his head on top of hers. They sat there for a while. It seemed like forever to Naota. At one moment, he remembered a quote Einstein made about relativity and girls: 'Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. Thats relativity.' He chuckled to himself, because what it felt like to him was quite the opposite. They only sat there for a few minutes but it seemed like hours.

After a while, Naota broke the silence. "We better get up before Kamon comes up here and sees us like this." He told her. "Aww..." Haruko complained, getting up from her spot on the bed. Naota got up as well. "Turn around, I have to get into my pajamas." He said. Haruko grinned evilly. "Whats the matter? Its not like I haven't seen you in just your underwear before." She replied, and giggled.. "Just turn around, Haruko." He said seriously. Haruko put on a look of fake dissapointment and turned around.

Naota got dressed in his pajamas, then laid down on the bottom bunk of the bed. "The top is all yours." He said, yawning and closing his eyes. Haruko walked back to the bottom bunk and sat down on the edge, looking down on Naota. "I think i want to sleep here tonight if you don't mind..." She said, grinning evilly again. Naota opened his eyes halfway and smiled. "Not tonight, you know what Kamon would do if he found us like that." Naota said. Haruko put on her fake dissapointed look again, then got up.

"Whats with your dad and fooly cooly anyway?" Haruko asked, starting to climb up onto the top bunk. "I don't know, it's weird..." Naota said, closing his eyes again. Haruko laid down on the top bunk and started to close her eyes too. Naota then remembered that letter that he got.

"Haruko, before I forget, did you send me a letter saying you were coming back?" Naota asked her. She shifted while she was up there. "No I didn't, did someone send one to you?" She asked groggily. "Yes, but I don't know who it's from. There isn't a return adress or signature." Naota replied. "Maybe it's Sameji" Haruko replied, getting sleepier by the minute. "You mean Mamimi? I don't know." He replied.

"Well, best not let it bother you, ya know?" Haruko stated before shifting her position in her bed and getting closer to sleep. "Yeah, I guess your right..." Naota replied before going to sleep. Haruko fell asleep a few seconds later.

It was a good day for both of them.

/End Credits\

Haruko's voice: I'm back, baby! Did you miss me? Good, because we've got more coming up. Do I plan on doing anything 'special' for little Ta-kun? What do I plan on _doing_ anyway? Well, thats for me to know and for you to find out! Next on FLCL Second: Guitars?

* * *

><p><em>Okay guys, thats another chapter done! Sorry again for the wait, stuff has been happening lately. Please review and provide ideas if you want. Also, I know there isn't any action yet, but I'm going to try to fix that in the next chapter. Until then, please review and provide ideas if you want.<em>

_P.S. The song Naota and Haruko played was in fact called Endless Drifting Wreck, and it is one of my favorite songs._

_-Gman_


	4. Guitars?

_Hello again! I don't keep track of how many days it takes for me to post a new chapter for this, but I am extremely sorry if i am late. I'm working on another fanfic also (Still trying to clear up the category issue with ), and I am overestimating how much free time I have. I am going to try to post a new chapter every week, more or less, depending on the conditions._

_I have noticed that I haven't been putting much action in here lately, and I am going to try to fix that soon. Right now, were in the "getting to know the place" stage. I plan on making some action in either this episode or the next one. Either way, I think your going to enjoy these next chapters. And if not, I don't blame you, because like I said before, this is my first fanfic._

_Please read and review, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter of FLCL: Second!_

_G-man_

* * *

><p>Haruko walked around Naota's room. She had woken up a few minutes ago. Naota himself was still asleep. She had put his clear guitar back in it's case, so he wouldn't accidentally step on it or something. Her double neck guitar was propped next to it, and the Rickenbacker was laying against another corner of the room. She was looking around, trying to see how everything had changed since she left.<p>

One thing that had changed was that Naota had cleared some space in his room for a small desk with a laptop plugged into a power outlet near it. The laptop had some external speakers, a few pairs of headphones, and a little machine thing laying next to the laptop that looked like guitar and microphone cords could be plugged into it.

There was a poster of familiar guitars up on the wall. There was a little bit of fire in the background of the poster, with a barely noticeable mark of Atomsk there too. There was a 1967 Flying V and a 1961 Gibson EB-0 crossed into an X with little bolts of electricity crossing between the two, and the double necked guitar, the mix of the two, overlapping it, while a blue Rickenbacker 4001 was positioned above them.

Haruko wondered how he had gotten a poster like that. Did he make it himself? It did seem like kind of a coincidence that the guitars on the poster were the same ones from four years ago. She decided to ask Naota about it when he got up.

Just then, as if on cue, Naota shifted in his bed, rolling over so he was facing in Haruko's direction, and opened his eyes some. The first thing he saw was Haruko. He noticed her staring at his poster. He smiled.

"I made that myself for a school project. There is an animated version of it as the screensaver on the laptop." Naota spoke finally. Haruko jumped at his voice, not suspecting him to be up this early. She turned around, with a slightly startled look on her face, which quickly faded. She smiled at him. "Usually you don't wake up until the alarm tells you to." Haruko said. "I don't know, sometimes I just wake myself up somehow." Naota replied. Haruko sat down on the rolling chair of the desk, facing towards the bed, slumping forward a little, setting her elbow on the arm rests and propping her head up on her hand, narrowing her eyes a little and looking straight at Naota, who looked back. He was still sleepy, and Haruko could tell.

"What time is it anyway?" He asked, not particularly directed towards Haruko. Haruko shrugged, not saying anything. Naota looked at his alarm clock, and it was a few minutes before the alarm clock was supposed to ring. He threw his legs over the side of the bed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Haruko closed her eyes, not because she was sleepy, but to think for a little bit. Naota lay his head in his hands, trying to wake himself up still.

"How can you forgive me for what I did?" Haruko said, opening her eyes a little. Naota just looked up, with a look on his face that said everything. The look said "I can forgive you because you came back for me."

She really did wonder how he could forgive her for the things she did to him. She had _used_ him to get Atomsk, and broke his heart afterwards. He seemed to enjoy her being there, though. He seemed to like that change in his overly normal, unoriginal life that she brought with her. He had always said that nothing amazing ever happened in Mabase, and that life there was 'a lifetime of dying slowly'.

Haruko spun the chair around a couple times, before stopping and looking at the machine with the guitar and microphone ports. "You record your music?" Haruko asked, turning the chair around so she was facing Naota again, eager to change the subject, becuase it didn't seem right to talk about such a sensitive topic the first day she was back. Naota got the point. "Yes, sometimes. I don't usually put vocals on there, because I'm not really the singing person." Naota replied. Haruko tilted her head to the side, and a little grin came onto her face.

"You should sing for me." Haruko said. Naota looked at her with the same look she looked at him when he surprised her. "I don't think I should." Naota replied. "Oh, come on. I'll sing after you." Haruko's smile grew a little bit. Naota thought it over for a few seconds. "Okay." he said. Haruko smiled more, and got herself comfortable in the seat while Naota got ready. He breathed for a moment, trying to think of something to sing. He remembered something he had practiced before. "This song is for you." He said before breathing in. He closed his eyes and started.

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing  
>Watch you smile while you are sleeping<br>Far away and dreaming  
>I could spend my life in this sweet surrender<br>I could stay lost in this moment forever  
>Well, every moment spent with you<br>Is a moment I treasure

I don't wanna close my eyes  
>I don't wanna fall asleep<br>'Cause I'd miss you, babe  
>And I don't wanna miss a thing<br>'Cause even when I dream of you  
>The sweetest dream will never do<br>I'd still miss you, babe  
>And I don't wanna miss a thing<p>

Lying close to you  
>Feeling your heart beating<br>And I'm wondering what you're dreaming  
>Wondering if it's me you're seeing<br>Then I kiss your eyes and thank God we're together  
>And I just wanna stay with you<br>In this moment forever, forever and ever

I don't wanna close my eyes  
>I don't wanna fall asleep<br>'Cause I'd miss you, babe  
>And I don't wanna miss a thing<br>'Cause even when I dream of you  
>The sweetest dream will never do<br>I'd still miss you, babe  
>And I don't wanna miss a thing<p>

I don't wanna miss one smile  
>I don't wanna miss one kiss<br>Well, I just wanna be with you  
>Right here with you, just like this<br>I just wanna hold you close  
>Feel your heart so close to mine<br>And stay here in this moment  
>For all the rest of time<p>

Don't wanna close my eyes  
>Don't wanna fall asleep<br>'Cause I'd miss you, babe  
>And I don't wanna miss a thing<br>'Cause even when I dream of you  
>The sweetest dream will never do<br>'Cause I'd still miss you, babe  
>And I don't wanna miss a thing<p>

I don't wanna close my eyes  
>I don't wanna fall asleep<br>'Cause I'd miss you, babe  
>And I don't wanna miss a thing<br>'Cause even when I dream of you  
>The sweetest dream will never do<br>I'd still miss you, babe  
>And I don't wanna miss a thing<p>

Don't wanna close my eyes  
>Don't wanna fall asleep, yeah<br>I don't wanna miss a thing

He finished singing, and opened his eyes. Haruko was leaning forward in her seat, her yellow eyes glittering, as if she was about to cry. Suddenly, she leaped out of the chair, rushed forward, throwing her arms around Naota. She _was_ crying now, crying tears of joy. "Naota, that was great!" she exclaimed, pressing her face into his shoulder. She sniffled, crying into his shoulder.

Naota had never seen her cry before, but he was glad that they weren't tears of sadness. He hugged Haruko back, leaning his own head into her shoulder. They stayed like that for a little while. Suddenly, the alarm clock started ringing. Naota groaned.

"Perfect way to spoil the moment..." he said, looking up from Haruko's shoulder. She had calmed down a little, but she sniffled a little and looked up to Naota. The skin around her eyes was wet from crying, but she had a smile on her face. Naota smiled back, and raised a hand up, wiping her eyes for her. She smiled a little more, and they both got up from the bed. They both broke the hug, and Naota started to get dressed, Haruko leaving the room for the sake of his privacy.

Naota smiled to himself while he got dressed. He was glad Haruko was back, and most likely to stay this time. He knew that his life had finnaly changed for the better.

And he was happy.

/FLCL\

When he was dressed, he went downstairs into the kitchen to see Haruko in her maid uniform, making breakfast. It was usually Canti's job to make breakfast, but he was on the balcony doing laundry at the moment. Naota smiled a little, and went up to her.

"Your not our maid anymore, unless you somehow already talked to my dad about a job." Naota said. Haruko turned around, grinning. "I just wanted to see if you still liked me in this outfit..." Haruko said, laughing a little bit. Naota laughed too, turning around and walking to the table sitting down. Haruko brought him over a plate of curry, and Naota sighed. "Curry is still your specialty?" Naota questioned. "You got that right!" Haruko replied. Naota picked up the spoon, watching Haruko carefully. He took a bite out of the curry. It was _really _spicy. Naota jumped a little bit, swallowed the bite of curry, and turned to look up at Haruko.

"Why do you always have to make me the spicy stuff?" Naota asked her. "Its just how I make it, and you should be able to handle it, since your a big man now, Ta-kun." Haruko replied, grinning evilly. Naota just sighed, got up and made a glass of water, gulped it down, and refilled it. Haruko got to work on Kamon and Shigekuni's breakfast.

"Its funny, you were crying just a few minutes ago, now your back to your old self." Naota said to Haruko. Haruko turned her head to look at him, her trademark grin across her face. "Well, I _do_ have a reputation to uphold, so don't expect much soft stuff out of me from now on." Haruko replied. "And you also said you would sing after me, what happened to that?" Naota asked. "I'll do it later. Don't you have school or something?" Haruko replied. "Today is Sunday..." Naota said, sitting back down at the table. When he looked back up at Haruko, she was dressed in the clothes she was wearing when she got up, and she was bringing her own curry to the table.

"How do you change your clothes so fast?" Naota asked. Haruko held her finger up to him. "Girl's secret." She replied, smiling a little bit. Naota sighed again, and took another bite of his curry, taking a sip of water afterwards. Haruko practically inhaled her curry, and got up and went outside. A few minutes later, Naota could hear the Vespa's engine revving. Once he finished the curry, he went outside too. He could see Haruko kneeling on the ground next to the Vespa, revving the engine with one hand and holding a wrench in the other. The helmet and goggles were hanging off the other handlebar.

"Is there something wrong with it?" Naota asked. Haruko looked up from the Vespa. "I just want to make sure its in shape. You never know when something will happen to a Vespa as old as this. Hey, I'll give you a prize if you can tell me what model of Vespa this is!" She said, revving the engine a little. Naota thought for a moment. "Its a Vespa Super Sport 180." He said. Haruko looked impressed. "How did you know?" Haruko asked. "I did some studying, and I wanted to buy one of my own, but they are hard to find." Naota replied. "Yeah, I'm lucky I found this one." Haruko said.

There was some silence for a minute. Haruko got up from her spot on the ground and turned off the Vespa's engine. "What do you usually do during the weekends?" Haruko asked. "Whatever comes to mind first, really. Mabase hasn't changed much since you've left." Haruko nodded, looking up into the sky. An airplane was flying high above Mabase. She also saw a dim light of some sort. She thought she knew what it was, but she wasn't sure.

She looked back to Naota. "As for that reward..." She said, reaching out to take Naota's hand. She pulled him towards her, and she got him on the Vespa somehow. But this time, _he_ was sitting at the controls, and _she_ was sitting behind him. Naota immediately knew what she wanted him to do.

"Drive us somewhere." She said. Naota sighed. "I told you, I don't think its safe for me to drive this thing." he replied. Haruko took his hands and put them on the handlebars, and set her hands on top of his. "Come on, I'll help you." She said, holding onto his hands. Naota thought for a moment.

_It might be fun to drive this thing..._ Naota thought to himself. He sighed.

"Okay," He said, "but we need to go to the auto store and get another helmet and goggles first." Haruko nodded, and Naota took Haruko's helmet and gave it to her. She put it on and held onto him, and he started the engine. He shifted the gears, and pulled away from the bakery, going a little slower than the road speed limit, 45 mph. He squinted a little bit from the air.

They drove for a little while until they got to the auto store. They parked in one of the parking spaces, Haruko setting her helmet on the bike and taking the keys, and they went into the store. A few cars and bikes were on display ouside, and there were motorbike helmets on a few shelves. They went to the shelves, and looked at the different helmet and goggles combinations. Naota decided to keep it simple, and picked out a gunmetal gray helmet with goggles of the same color.

Haruko turned to Naota and saw his choice. "Don't you think you should get something a little more stylish, like these?" Haruko held up a cobalt blue helmet with a white stripe going up it, with matching goggles. "I don't have much money. How much are they?" Naota asked. "Uh..." Haruko checked the price tag, "2,100 yen." Haruko said finally. Naota sighed in relief, and put the gray helmet back. "Not as expensive as I thought they would be," he said, "lets go pay for them." Haruko was already at the register.

Naota walked over to the register, taking his money out of his pocket. He counted out enough yen to pay for the helmet and goggles, and gave it to the cashier. They left the store and went back to the Vespa.

Naota sat down at the controls and put his helmet on. He slipped the goggles over the helmet and placed them over his eyes. They were a good fit. Haruko got on and did the same, and Naota started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. They drove for a while until they got to the outskirts of Mabase.

There wasn't really a speed limit for those roads, so Naota started to go faster. Haruko held onto him tighter. She looked up in the sky while they drove, and she saw that light again.

_That better not be what I think it is_, Haruko thought to herself. She quickly banished the thought of it being what she suspected.

They drove for a while, until they drove back into town and continuing until they got to the bridge. Naota drove onto the sidewalk until they got to the place they were at yesterday, and he turned off the Vespa and got off it. Haruko got off too, taking off ther helmet.

"I'm surprised we didn't crash," Naota said, also taking off his helmet, "that Vespa is dangerous!" Haruko laughed when he said this. "We need to get you one of your own so you can practice." Haruko said, hanging her helmet on one of the handlebars. Naota hung his helmet on the other handlebar and leaned against the railing. Haruko stood next to him for a minute, then sat down while he stood.

Meanwhile, down on the riverbank under the bridge, a woman of about 21 took a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of her pocket, put the end of the cigarette in her mouth and lit it. She took a puff out of it. She looked up to the bridge, seeing someone leaning against the railing. She started walking toward the path to the road, taking it towards the bridge. She went from a walk to a run, not noticing the cigarette fall from her mouth. She knew it was a long shot, but she wanted to make sure it wasn't who she thought he was.

_Naota?_

/FLCL\

Naota and Haruko stayed on the bridge for a while. It was still pretty early, about 11 o' clock. Naota drummed his fingers on the rail, while Haruko messed with the single chain link on her shackle bracelet. Her thumb passed over Atomsk's mark, and she smiled a little bit. Naota could hear distant footsteps, but ignored it. He could hear them getting faster as they got closer. The footsteps got faster until it was a full scale run. The footsteps got closer and closer until they stopped near them. The person running was panting, and as she regained her breath, she spoke a single word.

"Naota?"

Naota's eyes widened. He slowly turned his head to the side to see the woman standing a few feet away from him. "Mamimi?" Naota said. Haruko looked up from fiddling with her bracelet. "Sameji?" She asked, tired. Naota and Mamimi stared at each other for what seemed like an hour. She didn't look like it, but she was happy to see him.

"What are you doing here?" Naota asked, "Don't you have that photography job in America?" Mamimi nodded. "I'm here on vacation time. I wanted to see if you were still here." She said. She smiled. "Well, its good to see your still here, Ta-kun. I was starting to worry you wouldn't get that letter I sent." She said. "You sent that letter? Why didn't you put a return adress or anything? I was starting to think it was Haruko here who sent it." Haruko looked up at Naota. "Well, you can't send letters in space, can you?"

When Haruko said this, Mamimi looked down to Haruko, as if just noticing her. "Ah, I see." She said, dissapointed. She didn't approve of Haruko coming back, after what she did to Naota.

"Well, it was good to see you." she said, starting to walk away. "Your leaving so soon?" Haruko asked her. "I'm going back to my hotel. Maybe I'll come visit you sometime, Naota!" Mamimi said. "That would be great! Come over whenever you want!" Naota replied.

"Mamimi, do you want Haruko to give you a ride there? I can walk home." Naota said. "No, I wouldn't want to be any trouble." Mamimi replied. Haruko was on the Vespa already, her helmet and goggles on. "Come on, Sameji, it will be faster!" Haruko said. "Well, ok. I'll see you later, Naota!" Mamimi said, and she gave Naota a quick hug. She got on the Vespa behind Haruko, putting Naota's helmet and goggles on. She held onto Haruko as they drove across the sidewalk to the road.

Naota could see Haruko and Mamimi wave at him, and he waved back before they turned a corner. After he heard the engine of the Vespa fade out of existence, he sighed and closed his eyes. He sat down against the railing.

_Everyone is coming back_, Naota thought to himself. _Who's next? My brother?_ He almost laughed at this.

He dozed for a little while. When he woke himself up, it was actually starting to get dark. _How long have I been here?_ He quickly got up and started walking. He got to the road, and fast-walked on the road back to his house. He knew it would take about a half an hour before he got back.

On his way home, he saw a person walking on the opposite side of the street as him. The person was a male, with light brown hair close to Naota's length, with a guitar strung over his back. Naota knew his guitars, it was a gold LTD V-50. Wait, _gold?_ They didn't sell those guitars in gold color. Naota was curious, so he decided to cross to the same side of the street as him and get a closer look. After he crossed and got a few feet behind the man, he decided to make himself known.

"Um, excuse me?" The man stopped in his tracks when Naota spoke. It was almost scary. "Uh, i just wanted to know where you got that gold LTD V-50 from, because I know they don't sell those in that color." The man turned around, looked at Naota, smiled a little bit and spoke. "Lets just say I'm a little more special than other LTD owners." The man had a Russian accent. The man then chuckled to himself, and said "Follow me, if you please." Naota was surprised by this, but he knew he had a little time, and he knew how to defend himself in case something went wrong, so he decided to follow the man.

They walked for about fifteen minutes until they were on the other side of town, near a small house. The man went up to the house and spun a small combination lock on the door, then opening it, and letting Naota in. Naota was getting a little nervous, but as soon as he walked into the house, he went wide eyed, because the walls were lined with guitars in hanging glass cases. Guitars, basses, and the occasional mandolin.

The man walked in behind Naota, closing the door. "Amazing, isn't it?" It sounded more like a statement than a question. Naota nodded his head, still in a trance by all the guitars around him. The man walked past him, took the guitar off his back, opening an empty glass case and setting the guitar in it, then sitting down in a chair.

"Please, call me Ivan." The man looked around. "My guitar collection. As you may already see, its not just guitars." he pointed at one of the mandolins, and continued to speak. "Please, make yourself at home. There is a chair there." Naota sat down, and he had many questions.

His first question was: "Why did you bring me here?" Ivan looked at him and said "Well, you seem to take an interest in guitars, especially rare ones. So, I decided to give you a look at my dream, guitar collecting."

Ivan rose from his chair. "But, my pride and joy, my most favorite guitar of all of them..." he trailed off and walked over to a hanging display case, the glass tinted completely black so Naota couldn't see the guitar inside. He turned the two combination locks on the case, then opening it up, showing the guitar inside. Naota almost passed out from the guitar inside.

"This Epiphone Silvertone Paul Stanley Apocalypse Bass, Special Edition, with 24 carat gold plating!" Ivan exclaimed proudly. "It's beautiful, is it not?" Naota nodded, entranced by the guitar. Ivan chuckled to himself, and he carefully lifted the guitar out of the case and brought it to Naota for a closer look. He held the guitar out, offering it to him.

Naota took the guitar with the greatest care and examined it all over. He noticed that on the small bypass switch, instead of the top of the switch being made of metal, a small diamond was fixed onto it. Ivan watched as Naota examined the guitar, with a slight smile on his face.

After examining it, He handed it back to Ivan, who took it and put it back in the black glass display case. He sat back down. "What do you think of it?" Ivan asked. "Its awesome! Where did you get that guitar? Where did you get all these guitars?" Naota spoke at a million miles an hour. Ivan just chuckled.

"Everything was either bought or handed down to me. Where I got _that_ guitar, however," he pointed at the black glass case, "is a secret." Naota calmed down a bit, then looked at a large grandfather clock , noticing the time, nine o' clock.

"Crap, it's getting late, I need to be heading home now. It has really been an honor, Ivan." Ivan smiled, held out his hand and said "Nice meeting you, um..." Naota shook hands with Ivan and said "Naota Nandaba." Ivan nodded. Naota walked to the door, opened it and started walking away. "Please, stop by anytime you would like." Ivan called out. Naota thought for a moment, then called back "I will! Thanks, Ivan!" Ivan smiled again. "Proshchaĭ." Ivan said in Russian under his breath, then closing the door.

Naota walked home in the moonlit night, thinking about Ivan and his vast amount of guitars. He smiled at the fact he could look at them anythime, and continued to walk home.

Up in the sky, the strange light Haruko saw earlier shined brighter and brighter. Naota noticed this. _What is that?_ He stood there looking up at it. The light seemed to be right over the Medical Mechanica plant.

Meanwhile, at the home base of the Department of Interstellar Immigration, Commander Amarao stared at the large TV screens, sipping out of a cup. Lieutenant Kitsurubami stood next to him, watching the screens as well. The screens were centered on the light in the sky over Medical Mechanica.

"Kitsurubami, what am I looking at right now?" Amarao asked. "We don't know, but we think it has something to do with Raharu coming back." Kitsurubami replied. "Keep an eye on it, I'm going to check it out. If anything changes, contact me." Amarao said, getting out of his chair and walking away. "Yes sir." Kitsurubami said before Amarao left.

Back in Mabase, Naota stared up at the light in the sky. It got a little brighter, then a giant beam of light came down onto the Medical Mechanica plant, making the ground shake. Naota wobbled from the shaking ground, then getting his balance. He looked at Medical Mechanica. The factory was just a black silhouette in the light, but you could clearly see it rising from the ground. The factory righted itself in the air, and was set back down. The beam of light dissipated, and the light up in the sky quickly faded.

A couple seconds later, the Medical Mechanica plant's alarm sounded, and the entire factory was lit up by the lights on it, bathing Mabase in partial light. A large capsule was jettisoned into the sky from the top of the factory, and thrusters activated on the bottom of it. The capsule turned and flew directly towards Naota at a high speed. Naota panicked, and ran to the side just as the capsule hit just where he was standing, leaving a large crater in the road. The capsule started to transform into a robot, four legs flipping out of it and standing up, and the top of the capsule opening up to reveal the head of the robot.

The robot looked down to Naota with its singular red eye, and lifted a pointed leg. Naota sensed what it was about to do, and dived out of the way as the leg impaled the ground where he just stood. The robot struggled to pull his leg out of the ground, until it popped out, and it started running after Naota. Naota ran away from it, diving out of the way when it tried to bring its leg down on him.

Meanwhile, Haruko was on her Vespa, speeding towards where she saw the capsule crash. She had seen the beam of light and the Medical Mechanica plant righting itself. She had her double necked guitar and the Rickenbacker 4001 on the back of the Vespa. Naota's helmet was resting on one of the necks of the double neck. She turned the corner of the road and saw a tall four legged object with a circular body. She also saw Naota running from it. She stood up on the seat of the Vespa, taking both of the guitars and jumping off the Vespa, which started rolling across the road until it came to a stop at the curb, landing perfectly on its kickstand.

She ran until she was a couple feet away from Naota. "Naota, catch!" She threw the Rickenbacker at him. Naota looked in her direction and saw the guitar flying towards him. He caught it out of the air, and turned to face the robot. The robot came to a stop in front of him, examining him. It brought its leg up again. When its leg came down, Naota dodged it by moving to the side a little bit. The robot struggled to get his leg out of the pavement.

"Haruko, give me a boost!" Naota yelled to Haruko. Haruko ran towards him, sliding across the ground until she was under him, and Naota jumped up a little bit, one of his feet landing on Haruko's hands. Haruko pushed up, propelling Naota right to the joint of the robot's leg. Naota pulled the motor cord on the back of the Rickenbacker and raised it high above his head, and when he got to the joint, he brought the guitar down on it with all his might, making the strings reverberate deeply from the impact. The joint buckled in the wrong direction and broke, making the robot topple over.

Naota landed next to Haruko, who was already standing up again, weilding her double necked guitar. "Nice job Naota, but this thing isn't done yet!" Haruko said, pointing at the robot, who was indeed balancing itself on its remaining three legs. The robot turned so that it's broken leg was facing them. The leg had broken off from the joint when it toppled over, leaving the top part of the leg with a sharp jagged point at the end. The robot aimed his partial leg at the two, and it suddenly launched from the robot. They wouldn't have been able to dodge it in time.

"Look out!" A voice came from out of nowhere. Naota looked to the side and had a split second before a random person ran at them and tackled them both out of the way of the incoming projectile, which impaled itself 6 feet in the asphalt where they were standing. Naota looked up to see their savior.

"Ivan?" Naota said, still dazed from what had just happened. Ivan smiled, despite the situation. "Don't worry friends, I'm here to help you!" He said, getting off them and running towards the other side of the road. "Who is that guy?" Haruko asked Naota. "Ivan, I met him a while ago." He replied.

There was a pitch black Harley Davidson XLH Ironhead parked near Haruko's Vespa. On the back of it was Ivan's gold plated Paul Stanley Apocalypse Bass. Ivan grabbed it off the motorcycle and ran back to Naota and Haruko, who had recovered and were weilding their own guitars. He came to a stop next to them, turning to face the robot.

The robot, seeing as how it failed to hit them with its launched leg, charged them on its remaining three legs. Haruko and Naota jumped out of the way, while Ivan coolly stepped to the side, holding his guitar out to the side as if to trip the robot.

One of the robot's legs caught the guitar, making it fall forward. Ivan smiled at his successful move, and ran towards the body of the robot. He jumped on top of it, let out a battle cry of sorts, flipped the guitar over and shoved the pointed headstock of the guitar through the body of the robot. The metal was strong, but thin. Some sparks flew from the hole it made, and the robot got up, running around in an attempt to throw Ivan off. Ivan held on, though. He looked over to Naota and Haruko, who were just watching him in awe. He smiled again.

"You two, help me bring it down!" Ivan yelled to them, making them snap out of it, and making them run towards the robot. Naota jumped up a little again, Haruko leaning down a little to hold out her hand while they ran, her other hand held upwards, still weilding the guitar. One of Naota's feet landed on Haruko's hand, and he pushed off, Haruko propelling him as well. While he was being launched off, he turned around and grabbed the end of Haruko's guitar and swung it up, launching her ahead of him. Haruko landed on the top of the robot, and she reached down to take Naota's hand and pull him up as he got close enough.

Naota did the same as Ivan, shoving the headstock of the guitar into a random spot on the body of the robot. The eye of the robot dilated and faded, the headstock of the Rickenbacker destroying the optics system and leaving it blind. Haruko stood in a... golfer's pose? She rose the guitar so it was above her like a golf club, gripping both of the necks.

"You guys might wanna move!" She yelled out. Naota jumped down, while Ivan pulled something out of his leather jacket pocket. Haruko looked at it. "Is that a _grenade_?" she yelled out. "Thats right!" he said, pulling the pin off of it and throwing it down the hole he had made with his guitar, and jumping off the robot. "You have ten seconds!" he yelled up to her.

Haruko swung the guitar and hit the robot, propelling it from under her and sending it in the direction she had hit it. She landed on the ground, watching the robot come to a stop. It left a small crater and scratch marks from its legs in the road where it stopped.

The robot quickly got back up and turned to them, its eye somehow working again. Ivan held his hand up and counted down from five. When he got to zero, he made a closed fist, and a small explosion was heard inside the robot, and smoke rose from the holes in the body. It's eye faded again, and it fell over to the side. More smoke came out of the holes until suddenly, many sparks came from them, and the entire robot exploded.

The area around the explosion lit up, and the trio watched from a distance. Ivan and Naota walked up to Haruko, Ivan walking ahead of them some, examining the explosion. "Oshibka" Ivan said under his breath. "What?" Naota asked. "Its Russian for 'bug'. The name seems to fit it, don't you think?" Ivan replied. Haruko and Naota nodded and watched the explosion fade. "Why the heck did you have a grenade with you?" Haruko asked. Ivan turned around and chuckled. "Well, when a giant capsule that transforms into a robot crashes near your house, you have to come prepared." He replied. "Ah..." Haruko said to herself.

"Well, try to stay away from killer robots from now on, Naota. I don't know what Medical Mechanica is doing, but it certainly isn't good." Ivan said, walking towards his motorcycle. "Well, were not exactly happy with Medical Mechanica either, ever since what they did to Haruko here's boyfriend." Naota said, snickering. Haruko looked at him with an annoyed look on her face. "Ex-boyfriend, you goof, _your_ the only one for me!" she said, punching him in the arm playfully. They both laughed and looked back to Ivan, who was starting the engine of his motorcycle. They both ran towards him.

"Thanks for the help, Ivan," Naota said, "you were really good back there!" Ivan chuckled again. "Thank you, but don't give me all the credit. You two did a fine job as well." he replied. "Yeah Ta-kun, since when could you swing like that? When you broke the robot's first leg, you looked just like me when I broke Canti that day at the bridge!" Haruko exclaimed. Naota just grinned and scratched the back of his head. "It just seemed natural." he replied. Haruko grinned too.

Meanwhile, Commander Amarao sat on his moped, glaring through a pair of binoculars at the three people standing near the wreckage of the robot. He sneered, and started his moped, starting to drive back to the DII home base. He didn't trust Haruko, and he wouldn't let her do anything that she did last time she was at earth. He especially wouldn't let her use the boy for anything she was planning either.

/FLCL\

Naota and Haruko had said their farewells to Ivan and got back on the Vespa, Naota driving. Haruko had suddenly felt tired, so she clung onto Naota from behind him while he drove, resting her eyes, but being careful not to fall asleep.

She was impressed with Naota's performance in fighting the robot. He wasn't really the type of person to swing the bat. She opened her eyes a little bit and saw herself looking at the Medical Mechanica factory.

_Its on._

/End Credits\

Haruko's voice: So, its on! Medical Mechanica wants a peice of us again, so were gonna give it to them! Me and my Ta-kun... What's going to happen next? Will Medical Mechanica try to strike again? Next on FLCL: Second... Grève De Retour!

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><p><em>And thats it for this chapter. I hope you liked it. Remember, please review and provide ideas if you have any, because I will listen! Thanks for reading, and i'll see you next chapter!<em>

_P.S. That song that Naota sung was "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith, in case your wondering._

_-Gman_


	5. Grève De Retour

_Hey guys, Gman here again. I know I'm late, I got another chapter here for you, and I hope you enjoy it, because i spent a lot of time on it. From the looks of it, I've sparked a FLCL fanfic revolution. Four new FLCL fanfics have been posted since I posted the first two chapters of this fanfic. How exciting!_

_I just want to let you know that after this chapter, I'm pretty much out of ideas, except for bits and peices for later chapters, so any recommendations or ideas are welcome. Also, if you have any questions about me or this fanfic/future fanfics, direct them to me in a private message._

_I would like to thank MewHaruko, sm0kenm1rrors, and predator666 for being the first people to show that they take interest in this fanfic. I hope the rest of you people who read this will admit your interest with some sort of feedback._

_Please read and review, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter of FLCL: Second!_

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><p>"Hey, TV boy! Help me carry this!" Kamon shouted at Canti, who was beating the carpets on the balcony. Canti immediately stopped what he was doing and came down to help Kamon carry a heavy box into his mini-van. While Kamon had trouble lifting the box, Canti picked up the box without trouble and set it in the back of the car. Shigekuni was making the dough for the next batch of bread in the bakery kitchen, while Naota stood at the register. Haruko said she had to go do something, and was out in town somewhere.<p>

Naota didn't like his dad having Canti out in the open where everyone could see him, but there was really no point in arguing the topic, for Kamon would just accuse Naota of being 'selfish', then give a speech about some philosophy thing he wrote.

Naota didn't have school today because of some American holiday that he couldn't remember the name of. He didn't understand why they celebrated holidays that weren't even started by them. Maybe it was just so that the teachers could get a day off.

Shigekuni came out of the kitchen, wearing an apron, his hands white with flour and holding a mound of dough. "Are they almost done loading the car up?" he asked Naota. "Looks like it. Kamon just needed help from Canti with a box." Naota replied.

Kamon and Shigekuni were going to Tokyo for a few days. Kamon said he had finally found his big break in the reporting business with this magazine publisher called 'Taimu' or something. He wasn't the type of parent to worry about leaving his (16 year old) child home alone for a few days, so Naota, Haruko and Canti were on their own until they came back from Tokyo.

Haruko was rather enthusiastic when she found out that she was going to be alone with Naota for a few days. When Kamon gave them the news at dinner one night, Haruko, who was sitting next to Naota, had edged a little closer to him and winked at him, while Naota just tried not to look embarassed. Alone with Haruko for a few days? Something unusual was bound to happen. He would ask his father to change his mind, but Kamon's mind was set on the trip, so there was no point in trying to prevent the inevitable.

Canti and Kamon loaded the last few boxes into the car. "Father, come on! We're ready to go!" Kamon shouted through the open door of the bakery. "Be patient, I have to finish!" Shigekuni shouted back out. "I'm getting too old to be rushed..." Naota heard his grandfather say under his breath as he went back into the bakery kitchen. Naota smiled a little.

It didn't really seem like it sometimes, but Shigekuni really was a nice guy. He loved baking, and he encouraged his family to do the same. As a baseball coach, he had always encouraged Naota to take up baseball like his brother, but Naota wasn't really intersted in it. Shigekuni didn't really want to go to Tokyo, but Kamon encouraged him to go by telling him about all the sights he would see and the things he would do.

Shigekuni walked out of the kitchen, the apron off and his hands clean. "Naota, finish up that dough later, I have to go before your nut of a father has a fit." he said to Naota. They both chuckled at this, and Shigekuni walked out the door to the car, getting in the passenger seat.

Kamon poked his head through the door and looked at Naota. "We will be back in a few days." Kamon said before walking to the car himself, getting in the drivers seat and starting it. He rolled down the window as he started to drive away. "Don't burn the house down while we're gone!" Naota heard faintly as the car left his vision. He could see Canti waving to the car as it drove away, then he took the outside stairs to the balcony to continue his work.

Then, as if on cue, Haruko walked through the door, carrying a large plastic bag. She was wearing her usual Vespa riding gear, her red vest, black pants and white boots, but no helmet and gloves. "Those guys are gone already?" She asked Naota, setting her bag near the door. Naota nodded, remembering the dough his grandfather had wanted him to finish. He started to walk into the kitchen when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned around to find himself face to face with Haruko. She had her trademark grin on her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck, their noses barely touching.

"Want to go do something? Since were alone now, we could do anything we want..." Haruko said, winking at him. Naota blushed, embarrased. He turned around, starting to walk into the kitchen again. Haruko followed him. Naota picked up the mound of dough his grandfather had left for him to finish and started to knead it some more. Haruko stood right behind him, and she reached forward to put her hands on top of his while he kneaded the dough.

"Come on Ta-kun, lets have some fun. I promise that you'll like what I have planned." Haruko whispered into Naota's ear. Naota could feel Haruko's warm breath on his neck. The dream that he had before Haruko came back flashed through his mind again. "You knead that dough so well, I wonder if you can massage as good as you knead..." Haruko whispered. Naota tried not to pay attention.

After he was done kneading the dough, he did the final preparations before putting it in the large bakery oven. Haruko helped him, and they both slid the dough pan into the oven and closed it. Naota turned the knobs on the oven to the right amount, and went to the small sink to wash off his hands, Haruko doing the same. They both walked back to the main room of the bakery. Naota was about to go out the door, when Haruko took him by his wrists and pinned him to the wall, both of them facing each other.

"Haruko, what are you doing?" Naota exclaimed, trying to get out of Haruko's grip, to no avail. "Your so cute when your pinned to a wall, have I ever told you that?" Haruko said, grinning evilly. Naota knew that she wasn't going to let him go. He sighed.

"What is it you have in mind?" Naota asked Haruko. Haruko's grin got a little bigger. "I thought you would never ask!" she said, leaning a little closer to Naota. Naota already knew what she was planning, and braced himself. "I've been waiting a few days for this..." Haruko whispered. Naota closed his eyes and prepared for what was about to happen.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Naota and Haruko both jumped at the voice. They looked over to the door to see Ivan leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, with a sly grin on his face. A left handed Epiphone Zenith Fretless acoustic bass was slung on his back. Of course, they don't sell those guitars left handed. Haruko let go of Naota, smiled nervously, and scratched the back of her head.

"Alright, Mr. Spy, how long have you been standing there?" Haruko questioned. Ivan chuckled, pushing himself off the door frame. "About 30 seconds." He replied, walking towards them. "How did you know we were here?" Naota asked.

"Well, I knew I heard the name Nandaba from somewhere, then I remembered this bakery, and that there was a house built into the bakery as well, so I assumed you lived here." Ivan explained. "I was also feeling hungry, so I stopped by." he finished, looking at some of the breads on the shelves.

"Do you always carry a guitar of some sort with you?" Naota asked. "Usually, yes." Ivan replied, not taking his eyes off the shelves. "Are you rich or something? I know Haruko hasn't seen how many guitars you have, but there is so many of them!" Naota said. "Well, I don't buy all of the guitars I collect. Sometimes they are handed down to me by friends, or I forgot to mention, I make my own guitars." Ivan explained.

"You make your own guitars?" Haruko asked. "Yes, I buy the things needed to make the parts to the guitars, then I buy other things to make them special, like a body for a guitar that isn't sold in a certain color. It is a very long procedure that involves getting an OK from the original owners of the guitar brand. Now, is that all the questions you have for me?" Ivan said, picking up a loaf of bread. "Nope! We don't even know anything about you!" Haruko said. Ivan sighed.

"I guess I have to tell you my life's story." he said, looking around the bakery. "Yep!" Haruko replied, starting to walk through the door to the house portion of the Nandaba bakery. Ivan started to follow her, Naota coming too. They walked into the dining room, Ivan taking the guitar off his back and taking a seat, holding the loaf of bread he picked out in the other hand. Haruko got a few boxes of curry out of nowhere, starting to get them ready. Naota hoped that Haruko wouldn't make him the spicy kind again. Before Ivan started to speak, Naota went back to the bakery kitchen and took the finished bread out of the oven, rejoining them after putting it on the bakery shelves.

Ivan started to speak. "You know me as Ivan, but it is actually short for Ivanov. My last name is Bardzecki. I have a few aliases, since I'm a bit, well, _popular_ in some places. When I say popular, I mean people take interests in my rare guitars and try to, well, get them from me. One of my identities is Onava Abikez. I have several others. I was born in Russia, in a small town called Serok, which is a couple miles outside of Moscow. I lived there for most of my childhood and teenage life." Haruko brought over three plates of curry, and they all ate while Ivan spoke.

"My father worked for a factory branch of Fender guitars that were made in Russia. He knew how to play many instruments, but he mainly played guitar and bass in a local band. I was interested in music at young age. What really got me going in my musical interests is when I met a famous American band called Dream Theater. I met them after one of their shows while they toured in Russia, and they became one of my most favorite musical groups. I started my own band, but it wasn't very successful." Ivan finished his curry and continued to speak.

"After I started collecting rare guitars for a few years, people started taking interest in me. I wanted to try to avoid publicity and reduce the risk of people trying to take my guitars, so I relocated several times. I have lived in America, France, Italy, all sorts of places. Now I live here in Mabase." He finished, Naota and Haruko finishing their own curry. "Now, tell me a bit about yourself, Naota." Ivan said.

"My father named me Naota for honesty. I was born here in Mabase, and have lived here for my whole life. I live here with my father, grandfather, and Haruko. My mother..." Naota lowered his head a little. Ivan and Haruko both understood. "My brother used to live here, until he left to America to play baseball. His ex-girlfriend Samejima Mamimi used to call him Ta-kun, but when he left, she started hanging around me and calling me that. The name sorta grew on some people." Naota said, giving Haruko a short glare.

Naota had started to get a noticeable throbbing headache. He ignored it. "Everything else I either can't remember or took place during the Medical Mechanica incident, but thats about it." Naota said. "Enlighten me on the Medical Mechanica thing." Ivan said.

"When Haruko came for the first time four years ago, a lot of stuff happened. It's a really long story. Want me to explain it?" Naota asked. Ivan chuckled and held up his hand. "I lied. I already know everything about it. N.O. energy, Atomsk, everything. Me and Commander Amarao are aquainted, and he told me everything about it, even though he probably broke a few protocols of that government branch he works for by telling me. I just wanted to see if you were at liberty to tell me about the whole thing."

This surprised both Naota and Haruko. Ivan knew Amarao, and he knew everything about the Medical Mechanica incident and Haruko's mission to get Atomsk? It was a bit awkward, but kind of convenient at the same time. Suddenly, Canti walked in, done with his work on the balcony. He took the trio's empty plates to the sink to wash them. "But Amarao didn't tell me much about you, Haruko. Care to enlighten me?" Ivan asked. Haruko leaned forward a little bit.

"Not much to tell." she said. "I came here to get Atomsk, but the only way to do that is to use an N.O. channel powerful enough to get him back from Medical Mechanica. Thats where Naota came in. I sorta fell for Naota while I was here, too. Amarao thinks I was in love with Atomsk, but I was only in love with his power." Haruko and Naota's eyes met while she spoke. "Naota is the only person I truly love." They both smiled. "But it doesn't matter what Amarao thinks anyway, because I have Atomsk right here!" Haruko said, holding up her arm with the shackle bracelet on it, showing where Atomsk's mark was imprinted on it.

They were all quiet for a minute, until Ivan broke the silence. "Amarao isn't really happy about you being back, and he tells me to stay away from you, but now that I know the truth about you and Atomsk, I don't really see the problem." Ivan said, lifting his guitar up to him in a playing position. "And from recent events, I don't think that Medical Mechanica is happy with you finally capturing Atomsk."

Ivan played something that sounded complex, but didn't look hard to play. He was hitting his thumb against a string at a certain note, but also using his index finger to pluck the string above it after playing the lower string. "Well, if Medical Mechanica is after us, that means that Amarao is going to be after us too." Naota said. "Don't worry about that. Amarao isn't a threat at all compared to Medical Mechanica." Haruko said. Naota looked at Haruko, and she had somehow got her Rickenbacker bass from out of nowhere, and was playing the same thing as Ivan.

"What about those people you said you worked for? The Galactic Space Police Brotherhood?" Naota asked Haruko. Haruko stopped playing. "Oh, I forgot about them. They didn't care what I did with Atomsk, because they wanted to get him out of the picture anyway, him being a menace and all. They just told me to be careful about what I did in the future, because they didn't know if Medical Mechanica was going to react from hearing that I got Atomsk."

"Well, it's plain to see that they know now. But the only thing I want to know is why they sent the robot after _me_!" Naota said. "That is kinda bothering me too. _I'm _the one with Atomsk, so it should be _me_ they are looking for." Haruko said, starting to play the Rickenbacker again.

"Maybe they know that Naota is the closest to you, so they are targeting him to try and draw you out." Ivan said. "That makes sense, but what about you, Ivan? They might think of you as a threat now, since you helped us destroy that robot." Naota said. "Oh, I'm a threat to them, alright. I've got plenty of _grenades!_" Ivan said, all of them laughing afterwards, which elevated Naota's headache a little more. "That was a joke, by the way." Ivan said, glancing at his watch while he played his guitar. He got up, slinging his guitar over his back.

"Its been nice swapping stories, but I must be going now. Lets just hope Medical Mechanica doesn't have anything planned to happen soon." He said, starting to walk towards the door. Naota and Haruko followed him out. Ivan walked out of the bakery, getting onto his motorcycle, starting it, and driving away. Naota and Haruko waved to him while he drove off. When Ivan was out of sight, Haruko turned to Naota, her evil grin on her face again.

_**At the destruction of the Medical Mechanica robot**_

Meanwhile, Commander Amarao and Lieutienant Kisturubami stood at the destructed form of a simple Medical Mechanica robot, the one that Naota, Haruko and Ivan had destroyed the day before. A cleanup team was also there, doing whatever jobs they were assigned. Kisturubami held a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Well, it looks like Medical Mechanica is back in business." Kitsurubami said, quickly writing something down on the clipboard. "Sure does look like it." Amarao said dully. "Do you think it's because of Raharu coming back?" Kitsurubami asked, returning her gaze to the wreckage of the robot. "Most likely, but maybe not. Medical Mechanica might just want revenge for us ruining their plan last time." Amarao said, looking up into the sky.

"It still doesn't explain why Raharu is back on Earth..." Amarao said, pondering the many reasons that Raharu came back in the first place.

_Was it for Atomsk? No, she captured him already._ Amarao thought to himself. _Was it to get back at Medical Mechanica again? No, the plant was dormant until she came back._

_Was it for that boy?_ Amarao pondered.

_**Back at the Nandaba household**_

"Now, where were we?" Haruko said, wrapping her arms around Naota's neck and walking them both inside. Naota wasn't in the mood for this, because his headache had started to get worse a few minutes ago. "Haruko, please, not right now." Naota said, almost losing his balance as Haruko shifted her weight on him so that she was pushing him back towards the dining room. "Come on, Ta-kun. Show me if you know how to be a man!" she said, pushing him against the dining room wall, placing her hands on either side of the wall beside him so he couldn't get away.

At this point, Naota's headache was on the point of being a migraine. The only time he had felt a headache like this was four years ago...

"Please, Haruko! I don't feel well right now..." Naota managed to say, almost doubling over from the pain. Haruko could see that he wasn't lying. She slid one of her hands behind Naota to bring him off the wall, and her other hand found its way to his forehead while she repositioned herself to standing beside Naota. He didn't feel warm. "Naota, whats the problem? Headache?" Haruko asked. "Yeah, its intense..." Naota had trouble getting the words out. The pain seemed to grow every second.

_**Inside Kitsurubami's car**_

"Sir, were getting some energy readings from the Medical Mechanica plant! They're small, but noticeable!" Kitsurubami said, glancing at the laptop in her lap while she drove the car. Amarao also glanced at the laptop to see the readings for himself. The readings were indeed noticeable.

"Can you trace their origin or purpose?" Amarao asked, keeping an eye on the Energy readings while he dialed a number into a small cell phone. "No, but they are slowly increasing every second!" Kitsurubami said, trying to pay attention to her laptop as well as the road.

"Wait, the energy levels just went sky high!" Kitsurubami said, swerving through oncoming traffic. Amarao noticed the change too.

"It can't be..."

_**Nandaba residence**_

"Do you need to sit down?" Haruko asked. Naota's headache was reaching its high point. "I think it would be better if I laid do-" Naota didn't finish his sentence, as his words were replaced by a scream of pain, coming from himself. Naota clutched his head and doubled over.

Suddenly, images ran through Naota's mind. Images of Medical Mechanica, the robots he fought four years ago, and others. Naota fell to his knees, one of his hands slamming onto the dining room table and knocking some silverware down, while his other hand held his head. Haruko got onto her knees to try to help Naota up, to no avail.

"Naota, whats going on in that head of yours?" Haruko asked, worried. Naota couldn't speak, he could only scream in pain. For a moment, an image of himself appeared with a narrow beam of light descending into his forehead appeared, and a voice in his head say 'You're ours now'. It didn't sound human.

Suddenly, Naota blacked out from the pain and fell to the floor. Haruko quickly got down to him. She rolled him over and took his head in her hands, shaking him lightly. "Naota? Naota! Wake up!" She yelled, shaking him with more force. Tears were starting to form in her eyes. "Naota, please wake up!" she stopped shaking him, and bent over him more, pressing her face into his hair. She was really crying now.

"Please, wake up..." she whispered, sniffling.

/FLCL\

Naota woke up feeling weak.

Naota opened his eyes a little. He was in his bed. The aftershock of his major headache still resided in him, so he didn't lift his head. He could feel a weight on his chest. He very slowly tilted his head forward, in hopes to find out what the weight was.

It was Haruko, on her knees beside the bed, her head resting on Naota's chest. She was wearing yellow pajamas. Naota didn't know if she was asleep or awake, but he decided not to disturb her. He moved his head back to its original position and closed his eyes again. He was surprised Haruko got him into his bed by herself.

_What happened?_ Naota asked himself. He recalled some of the things he saw before he blacked out. He was concerned on what they meant, since they involved Medical Mechanica. He was really concerned on what voice he had heard, the one saying 'You're ours now'. It was unlike anything he had ever heard.

Naota felt Haruko shift in her spot, and he tilted his head back down to look at her. Haruko raised her head up to look at him. Tears had dried around her eyes, and she looked sleepy. Once she saw that he was awake, Haruko's eyes widened, and she quickly hugged Naota, pressing her face into his shoulder.

"I'm so glad your ok..." she whispered. Naota lifted his arms up and limply returned the hug. Haruko suddenly climbed onto the bed, laying on the opposite side of Naota, snuggling up to him. She sniffled once, nestling her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

"Haruko, how long have I been out?" Naota asked. "A few hours..." she said in a quiet voice. Naota could tell she was tired, probably from hours of crying. Naota absentmindedly kissed the top of her head, and wrapped an arm around her to bring her closer in an attempt to comfort her. "It's ok, I'm fine now..." Naota whispered to Haruko, making Haruko sniffle a few more times.

They lay down together for about a half an hour. Neither of them could get any sleep, despite how tired they both were, so they just lay there with their eyes closed. After a while, Haruko finally fell asleep.

Naota wanted to get up and walk off the events of what had just happened, but he didn't want to disturb Haruko. He gently picked her head up off his shoulder and lay it down on the pillow, and lifted her arms off him and laying them at her sides. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, being careful not to upset his already aching head. He walked over to his mirror, examining himself.

Nothing new, just a tired Naota. He was still wearing the jeans and t-shirt from earlier today, so he changed into some of his pajamas. He crawled back into his spot next to Haruko, who nuzzled into him when he lay down next to her. Naota actually started to feel sleepy when he laid back down, and he fell asleep quickly. Before he fell asleep, he had secretly hoped he wouldn't have any dreams.

Unless they were of Haruko.

/FLCL\

Naota slowly woke up. It seemed too early to be getting up, but he didn't care. He cracked open his eyelids, and noticed that Haruko wasn't laying next to him. He didn't really pay any attention to it, she probably just got up before him. He remembered that school was in today, and let out a dissapointed groan. He went through his usual procedure of getting up in the morning, and went downstairs.

He glanced to the dining room table while he walked past it, and he saw a plate of curry, a glass of water, and a note on the table. He walked to the table, sitting down in a chair and picking up the note. Haruko's slightly messy but readable handwriting could be seen on the note.

_I made some breakfast for you. Me and Canti have to go take care of some things, and we probably won't be back until you home from of school._

_Your girl, Haruko. XOXO_

Naota put the note down after reading it, and picked up his spoon and starting to take some bites out of the curry. It wasn't as spicy as Haruko usually made it, but he still had to take a sip of water after every few bites.

After Naota was done with his breakfast, he gathered his things for school, and walked outside, being sure to lock the door. He wasn't sure if Haruko had a key to the house, so he slipped the key under the welcome mat in front of the door. He had time until school started, it was still pretty early. He took his time walking to school, he didn't really want to get there early. In his opinion, the later he got there, the less time he had to spend there.

About halfway to his school, Naota saw a truck turn a corner a few blocks away and drive in his direction. As the truck got closer, he recognized the driver and passenger. They were his friends Masashi and Gaku. Masashi had got a driver's license a few months ago, but was using his dad's _new_ pickup truck to drive until he could buy his own. The truck parked near Naota, and Gaku stuck his head out of the passenger window, waving at Naota.

"Hey, Naota! Do you need a ride?" Gaku yelled to him. "Sure, thanks!" Naota yelled back, running towards the truck. He went around to the back of the truck, and saw Eri sitting in the back, half asleep. Naota knew that even _she_ didn't get up this early in the morning. He climbed into the back of the truck, and sat next to Ninamori. Ninamori opened her eyes a little more and looked at Naota, as if just noticing him.

"Oh, hey Naota..." Ninamori said sleepily, yawning afterwards. She wrapped an arm around Naota to bring herself closer, laid her head down on his shoulder. The truck started to drive down the road to the school. Gaku was looking back at Naota and Ninamori through the window separating them. He hadn't shaken his smooch fetish over the years, but he kept himself silent.

The drive to school was relatively short. When they got there, Gaku parked the truck in one of the parking spaces in front of the school. Ninamori had fallen asleep on the way there, so Naota lightly shook her awake. The four friends walked into school, all of them going to the same room. Their teacher wasn't there yet.

"So, is it true?" Naota heard Gaku say in the seat behind him. Naota turned around in his seat to look at him. "Is what true?" Naota replied dully. "The Vespa woman is back again." Gaku said. Naota could see Ninamori stiffen in her chair out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, she came back a few days ago." Masashi clarified from his seat next to Gaku, eyeing the student at the front of his row.

"The word is also out that a robot appeared, and that _you _destroyed it." Gaku said. "I don't know anything about the Vespa woman or any robots." Naota said, turning back around in his seat to face the front of the room again. Suddenly, the teacher walked in, carrying a bunch of papers in one hand.

"I hope you enjoyed your long weekend, everyone! I graded your algebra tests," she said, holding up the papers, "and I am impressed with most of you. Key word _most_." she started walking through the rows of desks, laying the correct tests on the student's desks. The students faces varied by the grades of the tests and the mood of the student. Some were relieved, some were sad, some were angry, but others were just neutral.

When the teacher got to Naota's desk, she laid the test down on his desk. "Your grade, Mister Nandaba, surprised me a bit, because you have a bad habit of not studying for tests." she said, lifting her hand off the test and revealing the grade, and giving the tests to the next people. It was a B+, which relieved Naota. He did indeed have a habit of not studying and getting bad grades on tests. After all the tests were returned, the teacher walked back to the front of the room and started to write on the chalkboard.

"We will be starting advanced geometry today, which I know you are all a little better at. It will be our last lesson before we start studying for the finals." she said, writing a few notes and shapes on the board. Naota propped his head up on his hand, and watched the teacher explain the lesson. Ninamori, on the other hand, simply _loved_ geometry, and sat up straight through the entire lesson.

After the lesson, they had to work on a geometry worksheet. Ninamori was the first to hand hers in. Naota usually liked to be the last to turn his work in to make it seem like he actually thought about his answers. Once Naota finally turned his worksheet in, and the teacher released them all for lunch.

While Naota was walking through line, he looked into the open door of the cafeteria kitchen, and saw a glimpse of a large blue hand. It quickly dissapeared from his view. He thought he was just seeing things and kept going. He glanced up at the menu and saw that they were doing an American special, chicken nuggets and french fries, probably to celebrate the American holiday they missed a day for. He decided to give it a try. Once he got to the lunch lady who was serving it, she gave him a plate of the food.

"Would you like any kinds of sauce with that?" the lunch lady said, sporting a light scottish accent. "I don't know, what kind do you have?" Naota replied. The luch lady started going through the condiment packets. "Well, we have ketchup, barbeque, sweet honey..." she trailed off, "or Fooly Cooly flavor..." she said, her accent fading from her completely. Naota nearly dropped his tray of food.

"What are you doing here?" Naota questioned in a low voice. Haruko grinned. "I got done with what I was doing a little early, so I decided to see how you were doing. Oh, and in case your wondering, you _did_ see Canti in the kitchen. He is helping with cleanup, you high schoolers are little piggies." she said, picking up a few packets of ketchup and barbeque and dropping them onto his tray. "Now, enjoy that lunch, child!" Haruko said, her accent returning. Naota stood there for a moment, then walked to the table him and his friends usually sat at, feeling bewildered.

Masashi and Gaku were already at the table. A few seconds later, Ninamori sat down at the table, right next to Naota. "Enjoy your little chat with the lunchlady?" she asked Naota, who was taking a sudden interest in the fries on his plate. "She was just telling me what sauces they had, thats all." Naota said. "Uh-huh." Ninamori said, tearing open one of her own ketchup packets and squeezing the contents next to her fries.

During the course of lunch, not much happened, other than Naota discovering that American food was actually pretty tasty. He went through the rest of his day like any other. When school ended, and he walked out through the school's front doors, he could see Haruko in the parking lot, sitting on her Vespa, changed into her usual Vespa clothes, looking in his direction. He figured she wanted to give him a ride home, so he walked over to her.

"Why were you and Canti in my school?" Naota said once he was in speaking range of Haruko. Haruko just grinned. "I wanted to see if you can still go through your day normally. Yesterday _was_ kinda crazy, wasn't it?" Haruko said, tapping her fingers on one of the Vespa's handlebars.

"I guess it was. You looked pretty beat up yesterday when I woke up from that headache thing. Are you okay now?" Naota asked, reaching for his helmet, which was hanging off the back of the Vespa. "Yeah, I was just worried about you." she said, starting the Vespa's engine. Naota put on his helmet, slipping his goggles over his eyes. He got onto the Vespa, sitting behind Haruko and holding onto her as she pulled out of the school parking lot and onto the road to the house.

Meanwhile, Ninamori stood in the doors of the school, watching Naota and Haruko drive away.

"What were you doing before you came to the school anyway?" Naota said to Haruko over the Vespa's motor as they drove. "You'll find out on your birthday. It's in a few days' right?" Haruko said, focusing on the road. "Yeah, how did you know?" Naota asked. "It was marked on your calendar. I think you'll like the present I got you. If you ask me nicely, I _might_ think about giving it to you early." Haruko said.

"I'm curious. What category of present does it fall into?" Naota asked. "Something I said I should get you." Haruko said. She turned a corner in the road, and the Nanadaba household came into view. After a few more seconds of driving, Haruko pulled into the driveway of the bakery/house.

"I think I know what it is now." Naota said, getting off the Vespa and taking off his helmet, hanging it on one of the handlebars. "Oh really? What is it then?" Haruko questioned, taking off her own helmet. "Let me guess, my very own Vespa?" Naota replied. "Oh, you got me, Ta-kun." Haruko said, pretending to look dissapointed at her failed attempts at keeping his birthday present a secret. She was secretly planning to give it to him that day anyway.

"I guess I have to show it to you now!" Haruko said, a smile crossing her face. She took Naota's hand and led him to the back of the house, where the outline of a motor scooter could be seen unter a purple tarp. She grabbed the tarp and threw it off the vehicle.

It was a red-orange Vespa Zafferano, in perfect shape. Naota was impressed by the model of Vespa, because the Zafferano model was very rare, only 200 were produced.

"You have _no_ idea what I had to go through to get this, the Zafferano model isn't the easiest to come by." Haruko said, looking excited. "We should have a Vespa race!" she said, taking a keychain off of one of the Zafferano's handlebars and holding it out to Naota. "I'm not sure if this Vespa can keep up with your Vespa." Naota said, taking the keys and getting on the Vespa. It was comfortable, as if it was fit just for Naota.

"You don't have to worry about that, all of the parts are improved, so it can match my Vespa's speed." Haruko said, starting to go back out to the front of the house to her Vespa. Naota turned on his Vespa, the humming of the motor almost relaxing. He put up the kickstand and drove to the front of the house, where Haruko was already on her Vespa, her helmet and goggles on. Naota drove up next to her, and she held his helmet out to him. He took the helmet, putting it on and sliding the goggles over his eyes.

"First one to the bridge wins." Naota said, revving the Vespa. "Ready," Naota announced, "Set..." Naota and Haruko both tensed up.

"Go!"

/FLCL\

Mamimi walked on the sidewalk to Naota's house. She had been planning to visit him ever since she saw him on the bridge. She could hear the sound of two motor scooter engines somewhere in town. It reminded her that Haruko was here, which annoyed her. She knew how torn Naota was when Haruko just left, and she could also tell that he wasn't too happy when _she_ had left for America.

She could see Naota's house a few blocks away. She continued walking until she got there, only to see that no one was home. She checked under the doormat, finding the spare house key. She smiled truimphantly, and unlocked the door.

_**At the DII home base outside of Mabase**_

Commander Amarao and Lieutenant Kisturubami were at their normal posts, watching the large TV screens inside the base. The screens were focused on the Medical Mechanica factory.

"Energy levels withing the factory are low, but increasing very slowly." Kitsurubami said, looking at a small computer screen in front of her. Amarao was focused on the TV screens. "Medical Mechanica must really want Atomsk back, seeing how they reactivated the factory." Amarao said. "Yes, but why did Raharu come back to Earth in the first place?" Kitsurubami asked, typing something into a computer.

"I don't know why, but I think it might be for that boy." Amarao said, looking at Kitsurubami. Kitsurubami looked back at him, confused. "I don't know if she wants something from him or loves him, but we can't trust her." Amarao said, looking back up to the TV screens. "So, how are we going to take care of her?" Kitsurubami asked.

"We don't have to worry about that, Medical Mechanica is already onto her, we should only act if the circumstances require it." Amarao explained.

_That might be soon_, Amarao thought to himself.

"We should think of a plan anyway, just in case." Amarao said. "We never know what Medical Mechanica or Raharu is going to do next, but we need a plan in case something goes wrong." Amarao explained. Kitsurubami nodded. Suddenly, a few lights flashed all around the room. Kitsurubami looked to her computer.

"Energy levels are rising! It looks like Medical Mechanica is trying to connect to something in the rest of the town, but it can't." Kitsurubami said.

_**Back at the Nandaba household**_

Naota and Haruko stopped at the ramen quick-stop to grab a bite to eat after they raced. Naota had beat Haruko to the bridge, which had surprised both of them. They both sat on Naota's Vespa, eating their ramen. Haruko's Vespa was parked close by.

"I can't believe you won the race, you don't even have that much experience with Vespas!" Haruko said. "You probably let me win anyway, you could have won if you wanted to." Naota replied. "No, that was all you." Haruko said, smiling.

Suddenly, the Medical Mechanica factory's alarm sounded, and white steam poured out of the many vents on it. It startled Naota and Haruko, who looked at the factory. Suddenly, several red alarm lights flashed and spun on the factory, while a large searchlight rose out of an opening that opened on the top of it. The machine turned a little, and the searchlight turned on, the light pointing to Naota. The light, recognizing its target, blinked and turned red, and it quickly narrowed down until it was as narrow as a laser. It was focused on the center of Naota's forehead.

Suddenly, a sharp pain coursed through Naota's head. He dropped his bowl of ramen, falling off the Vespa and clutching his head. He got onto his knees, the pain not subsiding. It felt as if something was in his head, trying ot get out. The searchlight turned off and receded back into the factory.

_Not again..._ was all that Naota could think of before the pain reached its climax, and a large appendage burst from his forehead. It looked like a large arm with a equally large hand. The arm bent, the hand placing itself on top of Naota's head, as it tried to use Naota to push the rest of itself out of his head. As it pushed, more of the arm appeared, and a head soon after. The other arm eventually appeared, which planted itself on the road to push itself out more. Haruko just watched in awe from the sidelines.

With one final push, the robot pushed all of itself out of Naota's head, and stood up several meters away. It looked like Canti, only slightly larger, the right arm was a gatling gun, and it had a circular head with one large, singular eye rather than a TV screen. The robot looked at Haruko, then down to Naota, who was standing up, trying to shake off the feeling he gets after a robot comes out of his head. The robot's gatling gun arm started to rotate, and it aimed it at Naota.

"No!" Haruko screamed, and jumped off the Vespa seat, running at Naota and tackling him out of harm's way just as the robot's gun fired, leaving innumerable amounts of bullet holes in the pavement he just stood on. When the robot figured out that he missed his target, he turned in Naota and Haruko's direction. It raised its gun, aiming it at them.

"Canti!" Naota managed to call out. In a split second, Canti had landed in front of them. The other robot fired its gun again, the shots harmlessly bouncing off Canti's bulletproof frame. Canti charged the other robot, taking its gun arm in his hands and trying to bend it over the robot's head. The robot didn't flinch, and it used its other hand to push Canti out of the way, Naota its main focus.

Naota jumped up, Haruko close behind. They ran to Canti, helping him up off the ground. He looked to the other robot to see its gun arm about to fire. Just as it started to fire, Canti pushed Naota and Haruko behind him, protecting them from the bullets as they bounced off him harmlessly. "Any ideas on how to get rid of this thing?" Naota yelled over the roar of gunfire. Canti activated his scanner and scanned the other robot for weaknesses. When he was done scanning, he turned his head so he was looking down at Naota and Haruko, and a text showed up on his TV screen.

**Medical Mechanica Attack Robot, SINGULARITY Class, Model 5094-B.** ** Greatest point of weakness: Head. Blunt force on the head will likely disconnect important power wires. Alternatively, remove the power core from the power core access hatch on back of head. Access hatch can only be opened by humans.** A schematic of the robot showed up on Canti's screen, a large red arrow pointing to robot's head. This was all Naota needed to know. "Canti, distract it while me and Haruko go for the weakness!" Naota yelled. Canti nodded, and started to run to the other robot again. "Your gonna have to do this yourself, I'm not human, you know." Haruko said.

Canti swatted the robot's gun hand out of its aimed position. He curled his large robotic hand into a fist and punched the other robot in the head. There was a buzz of electricity, and the robot's gun arm stopped turning, deactivated by loss of power. The robot, noticing that its gun was out of commision, pushed Canti away from him. The arm transformed, the gatling gun flipping inside of the arm, a large chainsaw replacing it. The chainsaw started up, the blades rapidly turning. The robot swung its chainsaw arm at Canti, who ducked to avoid it.

Naota saw his chance. he ran towards the robot, jumping onto its back. He managed to place his hand on it. The scanner glowed green, and the metal plating on the back of the head split in half to reveal a small sphere, glowing white hot, with many wires connecting to it. He jumped off the robot.

"Canti, go for the core!" Naota yelled. Canti grabbed hold of the robot's leg, pulling it out from under him and throwing him on the ground, holding him down by keeping his knee pressed on the robot's back. Canti plunged his hand into the robot's head, grabbing hold of the power core and ripping it out of the robot. The robot, lacking power, deactivated under Canti, its chainsaw slowing down and stopping. Canti got off the robot and walked over to Naota, who was helping Haruko off the ground.

"Well, it looks like we got another one." Naota said. "Yeah, and now that they are coming out of your head again, its probably a good idea to keep our guitars with us at all times." Haruko said, scratching the back of her head. Canti looked at the power core still in his hand. It stopped glowing white, and was just a small metal ball with a few wires sticking from it. Naota looked at the core too.

"We should keep that, just in case." Naota said. Canti nodded. Naota looked at Haruko, who smirked at him. "Everyone just _loves_ that head of yours, Ta-kun!" she said. "Yeah, I guess they do." Naota replied. They all stood there for another minute or so, looking over the deactivated robot.

"We should probably be heading home now, don't you think?" Haruko said. "Yeah, we probably should." Naota replied. Haruko and Naota walked to their Vespas, while Canti flew up into the air, and started to fly in the direction of their house. Naota and Haruko started their Vespas, slipped their helmets over their heads, and started to drive across the road.

About five minutes later, they got back to the house. Canti was already there, assuming the door was already unlocked when they got there. When Naota and Haruko walked into the living room, they could see Mamimi sitting on the couch, Canti standing near her, handing her a glass of water. This startled Naota.

"Oh, hey Mamimi. Did Canti let you in?" Naota asked. "No, I was here long before he got here. I got in with the spare housekey under the mat." Mamimi said. "Wait, could I maybe spend the night here?" Mamimi asked. "Some people I would rather not talk to have been trying to get to me." Mamimi explained. "Of course you can stay here!" Naota said. Haruko walked into the kitchen, taking some quick-heat ramen from a drawer and making it for Mamimi. "Are you hungry, Sameji? I'll make some ramen for you!" Haruko called out from the kitchen. "Yes, and thank you, Haruko-san!" Mamimi called back.

Naota sat on the other side of the couch, turning on the TV. An anime special was on. Canti joined them a few minutes later, and soon Haruko, giving Mamimi her ramen. A question crossed Mamimi's mind that she had been meaning to ask.

"Where are your father and grandfather?" Mamimi asked. "Oh, they went to Tokyo for a few days. Something about a magazine job." Naota explained. Mamimi nodded. The anime special was over about a half hour later. Haruko got up and yawned.

"I'm gonna go to bed, everyone. I'll see you all in the morning." Haruko said, starting to walk upstairs to Naota's room. "Alright, goodnight Haruko." Naota said, feeling tired as well. Canti got up from his spot on the couch, picking up Mamimi's empty bowl of ramen and going to the kitchen to finish up any work around the house that he missed. "Where do you want to sleep, Mamimi?" Naota asked, getting up as well. "I'll just sleep on the couch." Mamimi said. Naota started to walk towards the stairs. Before he could get to the stairs, he could feel a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, to see Mamimi with her hand on his shoulder.

"Naota, I want to tell you I'm sorry." Mamimi said. "Sorry for what?" Naota asked. Mamimi looked down a little. "Well, for leaving. After Haruko-san left, I could tell that you felt horrible." She looked up at Naota while she spoke, but not raising her head. "And I know that me leaving for America didn't help either." Mamimi explained. She raised her head all the way, looking into Naota's eyes.

"I left you alone when you needed someone the most. _Thats_ why I'm sorry." Mamimi said, her dark brown eyes glittering. Naota understood what she meant. Mamimi pulled Naota into a small hug, which he returned. After they hugged, Naota went into the closet in the living room to get Mamimi a pillow and some blankets.

After Mamimi was settled in, Naota went up to his room to find Haruko already asleep in the bottom bunk. Naota smiled a little, and got into bed next to her. Haruko shifted in the bed, flipping over so she was facing Naota, and snuggling up to him. Naota could feel the pangs of tiredness taking him over. He slowly closed his eyes.

Stuff was happening so fast. Final exams were soon, Medical Mechanica could use his N.O. channel again, Mamimi was spending the night at his house...

Of course, it is hard to dismiss those things as part of everyday life, or something original.

Well, you know Mabase, the place where nothing amazing happens.

/End Credits\

Haruko's voice: Well, now that we know that Medical Mechanica can use Naota's head again, we have _no_ idea whats in store for us. Will Medical Mechanica strike again soon? What is that creeper Amarao up to? Next, on FLCL Second: Honest to God!

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><p><em>And there you have it. I hope you liked this chapter, I spent four days on it. Please review and give me some feedback, I've heard nothing from you guys so far. To tell you the truth, I am actually surprised that people are reading this, after reading that ultra-crappy first chapter.<em>

_There is a bit of hidden trivia in this chapter. For one, 'Taimu' is Japanese for 'Time'. I'm not sure if they sell a Japanese variant of 'The Time' magazine in Japan. Secondly, the town that Ivan said he was born in, Serok, is not a real Russian town. Technically, Mabase isn't a real Japanese town either. Third, the song that Ivan plays on his bass while he is visiting is called 'Boonville Stomp' by Les Claypool. Fourth, the Vespa Zafferano is real, and indeed a very rare model. Fifth, it says that Masashi was driving his dad's **new **truck. If you can remember, the old truck was eaten by the Terminal Core in the original FLCL series. Sixth, the ramen store Haruko and Naota went to is the same one they go to in the sixth episode of the original FLCL series, where they can get a good view of the front of the Medical Mechanica factory. Last of all, the title of this chapter is French for Strike Back._

_Thats about it for this one._

_Until next time,_

_G-man_


	6. Honest to God

_Well, here we are again. Another chapter of FLCL: Second_

_I'm going to tell you right now, I am going to reap my imagination for everything its got, and try to make this fanfic as long as possible, to try and make up for the neglect that GAINAX has given us by not making another season of FLCL._

_I still haven't heard anything from you readers yet. I have this chapter and the next chapter planned out, but if anyone has any ideas, please tell me! I can't stress enough that I __**will**__ listen to you._

_Hopefully you will like this one._

_G-man_

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><p>"Ta-kun, wake up!"<p>

The voice rang through Naota's head like church bells while he slowly woke from his refreshing slumber. Naota didn't wan't to get up, but from the tone of the person's voice, it must have been serious. He couldn't tell who was trying to wake him up, he was still too sleepy to recognize the voice. He _did_ know that only two people called him Ta-kun, however.

"Ta-kun, get up!" the voice called again. Naota slowly awakened, opening his eyes slightly to find Haruko staring right back at him. She was still wearing her pajamas, and was on top of him, her hands on his shoulders. From this, he immediately knew that Haruko's reason for waking him was either extremely important or extremely stupid.

"What is it, Haruko?" Naota said groggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Well, three things. One, I think Miyu-Miyu is dead..." Haruko said, glancing over to the fat cat laying on its back in the corner. This didn't really surprise Naota, that cat shouldn't have even been alive at its age. "Two," she continued, "Its snowing out, and they canceled school. And three..." she said, her tone becoming a little more serious, "Theres stuff growing out of your head."

When Haruko said this, Naota jumped out of bed, knocking Haruko off of him, and running to his mirror. When he looked into it, he fount that Haruko wasn't lying. There were two lumps of skin, practically horns growing out of his forehead. They were wide but extremely short, growing out of either side of his forehead, and almost resembling the horns of the main character from this one American movie he had seen on TV.

"What the..." was the first thing that came to Naota's mind when he saw them. He raised his hand up to his head and tapped one of the horns with his index finger. It was rock solid. He used his finger to push the horn, and it slowly retracted back into his head. The feeling of the horn going back into Naota's head was slightly painful. He raised his finger off the spot where the horn used to be, and a few seconds later, the horn popped back out to its original spot.

"Ow, ow..." Naota said under his breath. Haruko rose off the bed and came to stand behind him. "I wonder how you got these." Haruko said, reaching her arms around him and tapping both horns with the index fingers on either hand. "Medical Mechanica must be messing with your head again. I wonder how they managed to connect to you in the first place..." she pondered.

"I don't know, but this isn't good." Naota said, opening one of the small drawers on his dresser and taking out a few band-aids. He pushed one of the horns back in, quickly covering it up with a large band-aid, doing the same for the other. He then found a dark red winter beanie hat and stuffed it onto his head, covering up the band-aids. Naota sighed.

"Great. _Just_ great! How am I going to explain this to my teachers? How am I going to explain this to Mamimi? How am I going to explain this to _Ninamori_?" Naota exclaimed, pacing around the room, while Haruko stood next to the mirror, watching him intently. "Well, you don't have to worry about your teachers. Didn't you hear me say they canceled school?" she said, looking out the window. "It snowed, and a lot, too." she said, walking to Naota's bed and sitting down on it. Naota walked over to where Miyu-Miyu was laying on his back and nudged him with his foot. The cat meowed lazily and rolled over, strolling out of the room.

"But I cant help you with Ninamori-san or Sameji-san. They're _your_ problem." she said, laying back on the bed, her legs hanging over the edge of the bed. Naota walked to the bed and sat down next to Haruko. "Well, this still isn't good." he said. Haruko rose up so she was sitting right next to him, and put an arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Don't feel bad, _I_ think you look good in that hat." Haruko said, a mischievous grin crossing her face. Naota just sighed. "Be serious, Haruko. Medical Mechanica can use my N.O. channel again, so who knows what they can do to us now?" He said, resting his head in one of his hands. Haruko raised her head up and looked at him, her grin not fading.

"Well, maybe I can help you forget those worries of yours..." she said, her voice rather sensual. Naota sighed again and raised his head to look at Haruko. "Haruko, come on-" Naota was interrupted by Haruko moving her head forward and pressing her lips against his in a passionate kiss. Naota's eyes opened wide, while Haruko's closed.

This kiss was nothing like what he had felt in his dream he had before Haruko came back. In the dream, he could barely feel the kiss, it being a dream and all. This kiss was warm, passionate, and true. A good feeling came over him, something he hadn't felt in years. Naota slowly closed his eyes and put an arm around Haruko, bringing her slightly closer to him. The kiss lasted for a few more seconds before they separated. They both smiled.

This was the first time they had actually _kissed_ since Haruko came back, but it was very relieving for both of them. The last time they had kissed, it was on top of the Medical Mechanica factory, shortly before Atomsk came out of his head, and Haruko leaving for four years.

"What were we talking about?" Naota said, Haruko responding with a giggle. "Thats the spirit, Ta-kun!" she said, kissing him lightly on the lips. "Now, lets go get something to eat and see if Sameji-san is up yet." she said, taking Naota's hand in hers and rising off the bed. Naota got up too, both of them walking to the door of the room and opening it. They both went downstairs, still hand in hand.

When they got to the living room, they saw Mamimi sitting on the couch, and Canti sitting next to her, painting her nails. Mamimi noticed them standing there a few seconds later. "Oh, hey you two!" she said. Canti turned his head towards them and the image of a sunrise appeared on his screen. Naota guessed this was his way of saying 'good morning'. The living room TV was on, and a weather broadcast was on, talking about the bad snow that had fallen. This made Naota curious on how much snow had actually fallen.

Naota and Haruko had a quick breakfast of ramen, before Naota walked to the door, opening it. The light reflecting on the snow blinded him for a half second, but when it passed, he could see at least one foot of snow on the ground.

"I don't see why this is enough snow to-" Naota said, being interrupted by a snowball being thrown into his face. He cleared the snow off him to see Ninamori, clad in full winter clothes, holding an armful of snowballs. "The first snow really hit hard, didn't it?" she asked, taking a snowball from her armful. Haruko walked to the door and stood next to Naota. "Hi, Ninamo-" Haruko began to say, before getting a snowball thrown into her own face. Ninamori was really accurate.

Haruko wiped the snow off of her face, grinning insanely. "So, your going to play like _that,_ eh?" she said, starting to run out the door, somehow already wearing winter clothes. She took a handful of snow off the ground while she ran, packing it together and throwing the resulting snowball at Ninamori, missing her by mere inches. Ninamori started to throw the rest of her accumulated snowballs, forcing Haruko to take cover behind her Vespa, which was partially submerged in snow.

"You guys wanna help me?" Haruko called towards the door. "Alright, I'll be out in a minute." Naota said, walking back inside. "My nails are drying, I can't. Maybe in a little while!" Mamimi called out. Canti, who had always liked snow, ran out the door, wearing a red scarf, even though he didn't really need it. He took a large amount of snow, packing it into a larger-than-normal snowball. When Ninamori and Haruko saw it, they both started begging for Canti to be on their side.

Naota shortly joined them, wearing his own winter clothes. He decided to join Haruko's 'team'. Canti was with Ninamori. Both teams took their time to make their snow forts and stock up on snowballs, and a few more minutes for Haruko and Naota to get their Vespas out of the snow. After that, they stood behind their forts, waiting for someone to make their move.

Haruko threw her snowballs first. She took one in each hand, throwing them at the others while they ducked for cover. Naota took the time to make slightly bigger snowballs, and tried to get Ninamori as revenge for her hitting him in the face with one a while ago. Ninamori used her strange accuracy to try to hit them, while Canti was amassing a bunch of very large snowballs. He picked one up, hurling it at Haruko and Naota. It landed in front of their snow fort, scattering a lot of snow.

"Your lucky I'm not throwing these with all my power!" Haruko yelled out to Ninamori. "Oh, so this isn't your best?" Ninamori yelled back, hiding behind Canti for cover. "No, if I threw one of these with all my might, it could brobably knock Canti over." Haruko replied. "Oh really?" Ninamori said, "Show me then!"

Naota remembered how well Haruko pitched while she had her temporary job in the other Mabase baseball team. He was then glad that he was on her side. Haruko took a snowball, getting into her baseball pitching pose. She winded her arm, and threw the snowball at Canti. Canti also remembered Haruko's viciousness in pitching. An exclamation mark appeared on his TV screen, and he brought his arms up to try to block the snowball. He was too late, the snowball collided with his TV head with enough force to knock him over, leaving Ninamori vulnerable.

"Uh oh..." was all Ninamori could say before she was pelted with snowballs.

/FLCL\

Commander Amarao stood outside the ramen restaurant, watching a bunch of workers dig the deactivated robot from yesterday out of the snow. He was just glad that this one didn't cause as much damage as the other one. Lieutenant Kitsurubami stood next to him, eating a small bowl of ramen.

"Well, it looks like things have escalated, just like I thought they would." Amarao said. "You thought his would happen?" Kitsurubami asked. "Well, I knew that Medical Mechanica would try to do this eventually. Sending a robot right to its target through that kid's N.O. channel is much more efficient than just sending it through the streets." Amarao explained. "True..." Kitsurubami said, eating another bite of ramen.

"Raharu is probably using that N.O. generating guitar of hers to get something from him. Still, I don't know what she could want, she has Atomsk now." Amarao said.

"We need to do something about this, and I think I know how." Amarao said, watching the workers haul the robot into a large van and drive away. "Hmm?" Kitsurubami mumbled, in the middle of eating her ramen.

_**Back at Naota's house**_

Naota sat at his desk, tinkering with his bass and recording/sound effects equipment. Since there was no school and there wasn't really a reason to go outside, he had gotten back into his pajamas. Miyu-Miyu was laying on the floor near him. Haruko was outside, working on the Vespas, while Mamimi and Ninamori were downstairs watching TV. Canti was working in the bakery kitchen, trying to make more bread.

Miyu-Miyu meowed and got up, walking towards the door, which was usually his sign that someone was here. Haruko walked through the door a few seconds later, holding something in her hand. Naota couldn't tell what it was.

"I talked to the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood earlier, and they agreed to give us a few weapons to fight Medical Mechanica." Haruko said. "Aren't our guitars good enough?" Naota asked. "Yeah, but it might be convenient to have more, don't you think?" Haruko said. "Great, where are they?" Naota asked. "They're in a space outpost, and they're pretty excited to meet you!" Haruko said.

"Wait, they're in space, and excited to meet me?" Naota asked, bewildered. "You pulled the pirate king out of your N.O. channel, which would kill someone that didn't have enough control over their N.O. It's a pretty impressive feat, you know." Haruko said, which was a huge surprise for Naota. "Well, how are we going to get there?" Naota asked. Haruko smiled and held up her hand to show Naota the object in it. "That is what this is for. You better dress into something nice before we go." Haruko said. Naota started to get dressed.

The object was a small flat black square, which Haruko set flat against the wall. She pressed a button on it, and it started growing and expanding. It grew to about the size of Naota's bedroom door until the base of it started glowing. The square then opened up like a door, revealing darkness. The darkness slowly changed to a scene of a large room, with a few people standing on the other side of it. They looked human, and wore black suits and sunglasses. Another person stood near them, wearing a suit that looked like a high ranking official's suit in American military. One of the men in black waved for Naota to come through.

Naota walked through the 'door', revealing how big the room really was. It was more of a huge hangar bay than a room. There were a few armed guards, holding strange weapons. A few of them had guitars strung over their backs instead of guns. Haruko came through the door shortly after Naota. The man with the officer suit stepped forward.

"Greetings, Naota Nandaba." the man said, and he held up a peace pose, only with three fingers. Something dawned upon him, and he lowered his hand. "My apologies, I just remembered that you aren't used to our customs. That was our equivalent of a handshake offer. You can call me Kassyk. I am your military's equivalent of a general, and I have control over this place. It is an honor to meet you finally." he said.

The officer noticed Haruko, who was somehow from her pajamas into her uniform, and turned to her. "Greeting, First Class Officer Haruhara." he said, and he held three fingers up again. Haruko simply said "Hey, boss", and held three fingers up as well. The man turned to the black suited men and nodded, then turned back to Naota.

"We want to take you on a quick tour through the place and show you what we do here. But first, we need to get that robot out of your head." He said, and he nodded to one of the guards, who had a strange suit of futuristic armor on. The guard took off the armored gauntlet on his right hand and walked towards Naota, and everyone stood back a little bit. "Wait, what is he going to do?" Naota asked. "He is going to temporarily reverse your N.O. channel so the robot goes out the _other_ way. It really throws off Medical Mechanica, they _still_ don't know how we do it." Kassyk said, chuckling.

The guard peeled the band-aids off of Naota's forehead and threw them to the side, revealing the two horns. He placed his hand on Naota's head. Suddenly, his hand started to glow, and Naota felt a strange presence in his brain. The two horns slowly retracted into his head, only _not_ popping back out afterwards. The guard slowly took his hand off of Naota's head and backed away.

"Now that _thats_ out of the way, we can leave now." Kassyk said, starting to walk towards a large door a few meters away from them. Naota felt where the two horns used to be, and smiled contently. Naota, Haruko, and a few of the guards followed Kassyk to the door.

The door automatically opened when they got close to it, revealing a wide hallway with windows on each side of it. They continued walking, and Naota saw that the windows to the right were rooms, and the windows to the left revealed thousands of stars, which convinced Naota that they were actually in space. In the rooms, there were people in white lab coats hiding behind glass barriers, and people with normal uniforms, some holding guns and some holding guitars. There were a few other instruments too, like a violin. The person with the violin played it really fast, and lazers shot out of the end of it. Naota was intrigued by this.

Kassyk started to speak. "This outpost was made for weapons testing. It could be classified the 'Area 51' of Brotherhood outposts. We are in the test spectating area right now, feel free to take a look through the windows." he said. Naota looked through one of the windows to see a tester, who was holding a twelve string Gibson Les Paul with a flame finish, and wearing large boots. There were two test dummies stood up a few feet away from him.

The tester jumped up in the air, something on the bottoms of the boots propelling him a few feet up further. He landed, and gave the scientists a thumbs up. He looked at one of the test dummies and jumped towards it, getting a boost from the boots. As he came down on one of the dummies, flames suddenly shot out of the sides of the body of the guitar. He crashed the guitar down on the dummy, crushing it and setting it on fire. He turned the other dummy and held his guitar in a gun pose. The fire from the guitar seemed to flow over his skin, but not burn him. A jet of flame shot out of the end of the guitar like a flamethrower, setting the dummy on fire. He smiled, and the flames slowly ceased to come out of the guitar. One of the scientists walked out from behind the glass barrier and took the guitar from him, said a few things to him, then walked through a door that opened near them.

Naota was awestruck by the performance. Apparently, Haruko was too. "Well, looks like our tech boys have made some improvements, huh?" she said. "Yes, indeed. Those gravity boots will become standard issue once its approved for use by the scientists, and any soldier assigned with an instrument weapon can request an upgrade like that." Kassyk replied. "I gotta get a pair of those..." Naota said under his breath, thinking about the boots.

They continued to walk, and in another window, there was a tester holding a trombone. The tester held the trombone in a playing pose and played a note. Suddenly, flames shot out of the bell of the trombone. The scientists and the tester broke down laughing. Kassyk chuckled, and continued to walk.

They passed by a lot more rooms, watching the stuff be tested, until they got to a large testing room at the end of the hall. A few scientists were already in there. A door opened next to the large window, and they all walked through it, except for the guards and Kassyk. He said he had to go do some things.

Inside the testing room, one of the scientists was holding a black Gibson Reverse Flying V left handed bass guitar. "We made this special for you." the scientist said, holding the guitar out for Naota. Naota walked forward and took the bass. He examined it all over. "Try playing it." the scientist said. Naota slung the bass and held it in playing position. He plucked one of the strings, and it vibrated so loud that it sounded like it was plugged into an amplifier, but it wasn't. It made Naota jump, but he got used to it. He plucked the strings a few more times, playing a tune.

"The strings take the sound waves in the air near it and bend them to sound like the note, amplifying the sound." the main scientist said. "There is a pull cord built into the guitar in place of the amplifier cord slot." he explained. Naota flipped the guitar up to see that he was right. He took hold of the cord and pulled it, something starting inside the guitar. "Try playing it now!" the scientist said.

Naota played the string again, only this time, the note sounded very loud, like there was some sort of sound affects to it. The note lingered for a long time. Suddenly, a large wall rose out of the ground in front of him. The scientists, Kassyk, and Haruko all got behind the glass barrier. The scientist motioned for Naota to hit the wall.

Naota unslung the bass and gripped the neck with both hands. He raised the bass behind him, then swung with all his might. The bass hit the wall, shattering the wall into peices. The whirring sound inside the guitar slowed down and ceased. Haruko clapped from behind the glass barrier. "Thats my Ta-kun!" she said. Naota smiled, and lowered the bass. "Could we get one of those practice dummies in here?" Naota said. The main scientist nodded, and pressed a button on the small console in front of him. The floor opened up in front of him, and a platform raised a test dummy out of it.

Naota rarely fought, but when he did, he always had a lot of adrenaline, but what Naota felt at the moment wasn't adrenaline. It was something else, but it made him feel powerful. He liked it. Something appeared on his forehead. A glowing symbol that looked like Atomsk's mark. Haruko and the scientists noticed. The scientists started whispering to each other, while Haruko checked her bracelet. The mark of Atomsk on her bracelet was glowing like Naota's. "Uh oh" she said, looking back up to Naota.

Naota pulled the pull cord on his guitar, starting it up again. He swung the bass guitar under the test dummy, propelling it several feet into the air. He jumped up to it, using just the force of his legs, and started unleashing a flurry of hits on the dummy with the bass. The scientists and Haruko watched him intently. After a few seconds, Naota swung his guitar downward, the dummy colliding with the floor. Naota landed on his feet, and picked up the dummy with one hand. He threw it towards the wall, and shortly after, threw the bass at it like a javelin, the pointed tip of the V shaped body impaling the test dummy on the strong metal wall.

The scientists and Haruko were awestruck. Naota slowly calmed down, the symbol on his forehead slowly fading. He lost his balance, and fell backward. Haruko was on her knees next to him in a millisecond. "Naota, are you okay?" she asked. Naota regained himself. "I... dont know, actually." he said calmly.

The main scientist was standing next to Haruko, writing stuff down on a holographic pen and clipboard, while the other three scientists were trying to pull the bass out of the wall. Haruko helped Naota up, and she saw that the scientists were having trouble getting the bass out, so she walked over to them. "You guys are weak, let me do this!" she said, taking hold of the guitar by the neck with one hand and yanking it out of the wall without struggle. Two of the scientists examined the damage on the test dummy, while Haruko handed the guitar to the other scientist, who took it, dumbstruck. Haruko quickly walked back to Naota.

"Naota, something weird is going on in your head again." Haruko said. Naota chuckled.

"Isn't there always?" he said.

/FLCL\

Naota sat at one of the large tables in the huge cafeteria of the Galactic Space Police Brotherhood outpost. There was a stage on one side of the cafeteria, where someone was playing a calm tune on an electric lap/steel guitar. Haruko sat next to Naota, and a bunch of other people sat near him. He had gotten a lot of handshakes and pats on the back for having the most powerful N.O. channel other than Atomsk. There were a few other people with good N.O. channels, but they congratulated him too.

The scientists had given Naota the bass guitar from earlier, which he had slung over his back. They had given Haruko a hot pink left handed Epiphone Evolution bass. There were a lot of staff with their own instruments. One person had a very light blue Gibson Holy V, that felt ice cold to the touch. Gibsons seemed to be famous among the Brotherhood. Someone else had a black steel trumpet clipped onto his belt. Kassyk was even there, a right handed Gibson EB-1 strung on his back.

After the man with the lap/steel guitar was done playing, Haruko said that they needed to go back to Earth to check up on everyone there. A few guards escorted them bact to the portal-door. They went through the door, and once they were back in Naota's room, Haruko pressed the button on the door again, making it fold back into a small square, which she stuffed into her large bag of belongings.

Haruko had somehow changed into her casual clothes very fast, and was examining her new Epiphone Evolution bass. She liked the pink color, and the fact that the model was discontinued on Earth. Brotherhood instrument weapons always seemed to be either rare models or common models with special attributes.

Naota sat down on his bed, looking at his new Reverse Flying V bass. "Well, its good to know that _someone_ is on our side." he said. Haruko smiled. "Well, the Brotherhood owed me anyway." she said, propping her new guitar next to the others, and sitting down next to him.

Naota thought for a moment. He remembered how Kassyk had called Haruko by her last name, Haruhara. He also remembered how that Amarao guy had said that her _real_ name is Raharu. He was kinda confused, so he decided to ask Haruko.

"Haruko?" Naota said, looking at her. "Yeah, Ta-kun?" she said, smiling a little bit. "Well, _you_ tell me that you name is Haruko Haruhara, but Amarao told me that your real name is Haruha Raharu. Which one is your _real_ name, just so I can be sure?" Naota asked. Haruko's face grew a little more serious.

"Well, it's a long story. You know how I came four years ago, trying to get Atomsk from your N.O. channel? Well, before that, when Amarao was just a kid, I did the same thing with him, but I went by Raharu while I was there. Amarao's N.O. channel wasn't powerful enough to get Atomsk, so I left earth again. Apparently, he learned about everything that Medical Mechanica and the Brotherhood did, so he joined that DII branch of your government. He thinks that Raharu is my _real_ name. Now, he's out to get me. _I_ personally think he hasn't gotten over me yet, and his job is just an excuse to try and get me back." Haruko explained.

"But Haruko Haruhara is my real name. Back then, all Brotherhood members had to have an alias for if we ever had to go to a foreign planet so no-one could find out our true identities." Haruko said. Naota felt relieved to know that he could keep calling her Haruko. "Good to know." Naota said, getting up from the bed and looking at Haruko's new guitar for a moment. "Why are all the instruments you get from the Brotherhood really rare?" Naota asked. "Don't ask me, it must be an alien thing." Haruko said, getting up as well.

They both went downstairs to see Mamimi asleep on the couch and Ninamori gone. Canti was in the kitchen, making something. "Where did Ninamori go?" Naota asked. Canti turned his head towards him, and a picture of Ninamori going out the front door appeared on his TV screen face. Then, several words of Kanji appeared on his screen. He was asking Naota if he could go to the store to get some stuff for dinner. Apparently, Canti wanted to make something other than curry or ramen this time.

"Sure, I can go." Naota said. Canti flashed a thumbs-up symbol, Gave Naota a small slip of paper listing the stuff he needed to get, and went back to his duties. Naota went back up to his room to get some winter clothes on. When he got back down to the living room, Haruko was sitting on the couch as well.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "Oh, Canti needs me to get some stuff from the store, I'll be back in a few minutes." Naota said. Okay, be safe out there, the weatherman says a snowstorm is going to hit soon!" Haruko said while Naota was walking out the door. "Ok, just make sure you keep the door unlocked!" Naota said.

Naota went outside and got his Vespa out from under the tarp covering Haruko had put up to protect both the Vespas from the snow. He led it out through the path Haruko had dug to the road. A snowmobile squad had cleared the roads of snow earlier. He put on his helmet and goggles, got the keys out of the small compartment on the dashboard, and started the Vespa. He drove onto the road towards the general store downtown.

Meanwhile, two black vans were parked on the road, where they could get a good view of the Nandaba bakery. The driver of the van in front watched as Naota pulled out of the driveway onto the road.

"Commander, the target just left the house. Should we pursue?" the man said into a walkie-talkie. In the second van, Commander Amarao spoke into his own walkie-talkie. "Yes, but keep your distance." he said. The first van started driving, the second van close behind.

After a few minutes of driving, Naota got to the store. He parked his Vespa, took of his helmet and started to go inside. Before he went inside, he noticed two black vans park next to his Vespa. He also noticed a few men in black get out of the back of the first van and walk towards him. He thought it was nothing, but his mind started to change as the men got closer to him.

When they got close enough, two of the men grabbed him by the arms. "What the hell are you doing? Let me go!" Naota yelled, and struggled to get away from them, but to no avail. He continued to struggle, until he felt something pressed against his head. "Shut up, kid!" the third man said. At that moment, Naota realized that what he felt against his head was the barrel of a gun. His blood ran cold, and he stopped struggling. The men dragged him to the second van.

A man inside the back of the van opened the doors, and the two men holding Naota shoved him into the van. The doors closed, and the three men got to work on getting Naota's Vespa into the other van. Once they finally got it in, they also got in with it, and both vans started driving away.

Meanwhile, Ninamori was standing inside the door to the store. She had been hoping to surprise Naota, but she had seen the whole thing.

In the van, Naota was starting to get mad. "What the hell! Where are you taking me? You have no right to do this!" he yelled. The guy in there with him was starting to get annoyed. He pulled a syringe out of his pocket, and grabbed Naota's arm. Naota tried to break free, but the man plunged the syringe into his arm, delivering its contents into Naota's bloodstream.

"That oughta keep your mouth shut for a while!" the man said, letting go of Naota. Naota was already starting to feel drowsy. "What... what was that...?" Naota asked. "Its a sedative, sweet dreams." the man said. The sedative was already starting to take its toll on Naota. Naota slowly lost consciousness, the world becoming black around him.

/FLCL\

_**At the DII home base's interrogation room**_

Naota slowly regained his conscious. He opened his eyes slowly, but squinted as a bright light shined on him. He saw that he was sitting at a table in a dark room, but the only light was the bright light shining onto him. There was a tall man standing next to him. He could faintly see someone sitting on the other side of the table.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Naota asked, still a little drowsy from the sedatives. At that moment, the light moved to the center of the table so he could see who was on the other side. It was Amarao.

At that moment, the aftereffects of the sedative wore off completely. "Amarao, you son on a-" Naota said, jumping out of his chair. Before he could finish his sentence, something stopped him, and he landed back in his chair. He looked and saw that his wrists were bound to the chair with a tough rope-like object. He tried pulling on one of them, but they were too tough. He looked back at Amarao, scowling.

"Let me go, you bastard!" Naota yelled. One of Amarao's overly large eyebrows twitched.

"You can make this easy on yourself, Naota. Your older now, capable of making your own decisions. Don't make any bad ones." Amarao said. He got out of his chair and started circling the table. He stopped next to Naota and bent down to him. "Now, I'm going to ask you some questions, and you better not lie. First, what is Raharu telling you?" Amarao said. Naota responded by spitting in Amarao's face. Amarao stood up straight and wiped his face off with one of his hands, Naota grinning insanely.

Amarao nodded to the man standing next to Naota. The man walked away, and Naota heard the sound of a door opening and closing. Suddenly, Amarao slapped Naota in the face. _Hard_. Naota recovered from the slap and glared at Amarao.

"Good thing you aren't a kid anymore, or that would have been unthinkable. Now, I'm going to ask you again. What has Raharu been telling you?" Amarao asked. "One, her name isn't Raharu, and two, She hasn't been telling me anything!" Naota said. Amarao's eyebrow twitched again.

"Where is she hiding? Your home?" Amarao asked. Naota didn't say anything. Amarao sighed. "You should cooperate with us. You don't want anything to happen to any of your friends, do you?" Amarao said, and he took a folder out of nowhere and put it down on the table, opening it. It was full of pictures of Ninamori, Mamimi, Masashi and Gaku, taken just days ago.

"You bastard... you stay away from them!" Naota yelled, pulling at his restraints again. The sound of the ropes straining could be heard. "Work with us, Naota! We can do things, things that will make you miserable! Now, tell me where Raharu is!" Amarao yelled.

At that point, Naota couldn't take it anymore. He could feel his rage building, until it reached its high point. Atomsk's symbol appeared on his forehead, and it started glowing bright red. "How are you doing that... Atomsk isn't in you anymore!" Amarao said, backing up a little bit.

Suddenly, Naota yanked one of his arms up, breaking the restraint. He reached for the other restraint and pulled it off his other arm, and he jumped out of the chair, knocking the table over. He looked at Amarao, who was just standing there, a nervous wreck. Naota suddenly ran towards him, grabbing him by the neck and pinnig him against the dark wall. Amarao pulled at Naota's hand, to no avail.

"Your going to pay for this!" Naota yelled into Amarao's face, tightening his grip on Amarao's neck. "Kitsurubami!" Amarao managed say, despite lack of air. A second later, Kitsurubami burst out of the shadows, holding a pistol. She aimed at Naota and shot, a sedative dart shooting out of it. The dart hit its mark, burying the needle into Naota's shoulder. Naota reached behind him with his free hand and pulled the dart out of his shoulder. It was too late, the sedative had already gotten into his bloodstream. He released Amarao, and stumbled backward, the mark on his forehead ceasing to glow.

"Don't do that again Naota, or its _you_ who is going to pay!" Amarao coughed out. Naota lost his balance and fell forward. He tried to push himself back up, but couldn't. "Haruko..." Naota managed to say, before losing consciousness again. Amarao stepped forward, standing over Naota.

"Kitsurubami, schedule him for another session in the morning. And this time, use something stronger to hold him down." Amarao said, walking towards the door. "Yes sir." Kitsurubami replied. She looked down to Naota, a slight frown crossing her face.

_**Back at the Nandaba house**_

Haruko stood in the kitchen. It had been about a half an hour since Naota had left for the store, and she was getting impatient. She held the small timer for the food in her hand, careful not to change the dial. The big snowstorm the weather anchors had been talking about had hit a few minutes ago, and Haruko just kept telling herself that Naota was having some trouble getting through the snow. Canti was in the living room, trying to wake Mamimi up.

Suddenly, the door burst open, the sound of wind blowing drowning out all other sounds. Canti got up and hurried towards the door. Haruko ran out of the kitchen. "Naota?" she said, before seeing who it really was. It was Ninamori, shivering from the cold. Canti quickly closed the door behind her, leading Ninamori to the couch and kneeling next to her. Mamimi had woken up, and seeing the condition Ninamori was in, took a blanket and covered her with it, then cuddled up to her to try to warm her up. Haruko hurried over to them.

"Are you okay, Ninamori-san?" Haruko asked in a serious tone. Ninamori looked up at Haruko, her teeth chattering. "T-they... t-t-they took N-Naota..." She managed to say. Canti's face lit up with an exclamation sign.

Haruko couldn't believe what she had just heard. She knelt down to Ninamori. "Who took Naota?" she asked, her tone becoming more serious. "I-I don't know... t-they were wearing suits... b-black suits..." Ninamori said. Haruko instantly knew who they were. Both of her hands tightened into fists, and she unknowingly crushed the timer in her hand, the bell dinging once before it was crushed.

Haruko suddenly walked to the stairs and went up to Naota's room. She took the Rickenbacker and slung it on her back, slinging the pink Epiphone Evolution over it, and she took the Reverse Flying V in one hand and the double neck hybrid guitar in the other. She went back down the stairs to the living room.

"I'm going to go get Naota." Haruko said, heading for the door. "You can't go out in this weather, you'll just end up like Ninamori here!" Mamimi said. Ninamori was indeed not in good condition. Canti had made her some hot ramen to try and make her feel better, and she needed to get some rest.

As much as Haruko wanted to go out to find Naota, Mamimi was right. The roads probably needed to be cleared again from the heavy snow. Haruko sighed and set all four guitars near the door and sat down on the couch next to Ninamori. She couldn't believe that Amarao would use Naota to get to her.

Suddenly, Haruko burst into tears right there. Ninamori put a hand on Haruko's shoulder to try and comfort her. "Its going to be okay, Haruko-san. Naota is strong, he can handle himself until tomorrow." she said. Haruko stopped crying, sniffled, and smiled a little bit. "Your right, but I'm still worried." she said.

_I'm going to find you, Ta-kun, and anyone standing in my way is dead!_

/End Credits\

Haruko's voice: Amarao took Naota, and he thinks I'm not going to do anything about it? Well, I'll make sure he has second thoughts about messing with me! Next time on FLCL Second: Spring Child!

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><p><em>Well, thats it for now. I hope you like this one, and I hope that someone will give me some feedback or ideas.<em>

_There is a bit of trivia in this chapter as well. The horns that Naota get resemble the main character's horns from the movie 'Hellboy'._

_Until next time,_

_G-man_


	7. Spring Child

_I'm sorry for the late update, my laptop's computer charger broke, and so-on._

_I would like to thank all of the people who are still sticking with me on this one. First fanfic, y'know?_

_G-man_

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><p>Haruko jumped out of Naota's bed as soon as she had woken up. She had changed into her usual traveling clothes. The red jacket, the black pants, the white boots, the yellow gloves, and the white scarf. She had left the four guitars downstairs, but Naota's five string was propped against the wall near the door. Before Haruko left the room, she had stared at the guitar for about ten seconds, remembering how Naota had played a song for her the night she had come back.<p>

She fought back the urge to start crying again.

She had cried for most of the night. She couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to Naota, and she had been worried all night. She didn't even sleep well because of her worries.

She went downstairs, ready to leave immediately. Canti and Mamimi had both stopped her before she could leave. "You can't go looking for Naota without some breakfast!" Mamimi had said, Canti quickly starting to work on breakfast.

Haruko and Mamimi sat at the kitchen table as Canti made last preparations for the quick breakfast. Haruko was getting impatient, and was tempted to just leave, but Mamimi insisted that she stayed.

"Ninamori-san got a cold, and she is going to stay with us until she recovers. I hope she's okay..." Mamimi said. Haruko smiled slightly at how Mamimi cared so much for everyone.

_Mamimi will make a good mother someday_, Haruko thought to herself as Canti brought them breakfast.

Haruko quickly ate, and started towards the front door to get the four guitars propped near it. She slung the pink Epiphone Evolution bass and the Reverse Flying V bass on her back, the necks crossed into an X. She took the double necked guitar and the Rickenbacker in either hand and went outside to her Vespa. The weather had warmed considerably. The snow put down from the blizzard the night before had melted down into a thin ice. She hung the two guitars in her hands on the back of the Vespa, while she pulled an old map of Mabase out of a small compartment in the motor scooter.

Haruko examined the map, trying to remember where she had heard that the main base for the DII was. She knew that it was on the outskirts of the town, but where? A few moments later, she realized that since it was a classified place, it wouldn't be on a generic travel map. She got onto her Vespa, propped the map between the handlebars, started it up and put on her helmet. She left her goggles off so she could easily read the map while she drove. She picked the first road to the outskirts that she found, and was ready to start driving.

"Haruko, wait!" she had heard someone say. She looked in the direction of the voice to see Ivan, sitting on his Harley on the other side of the street. Haruko drove up next to him.

"Yeah, Ivan?" Haruko asked. "I know about what happened to Naota, and I am sorry." Ivan said. "Well, I'm going out to look for him right now. You got something for me?" Haruko said. Ivan nodded, and took an envelope out of his leather jacket pocket. "I got this letter this morning. There isn't an address, but it _is_ adressed to you. I guess that means that they know I'm involved with you guys now. It's not a problem, I can watch my back." Ivan said.

"Thanks, Ivan." Haruko said. Ivan nodded and drove away on his Harley. Haruko started driving down the road, following the path she had picked out on the map. While she drove, Haruko had somehow managed to get the envelope opened up, and she held the peice of paper enclosed in it in front of her face. The paper flapped in the wind, making it hard to read. Haruko was able to read its contents, though.

_To Raharu,_

_We know that you know that we have Naota in our possession. We know that you want him back, and we are willing to comprimise. We will give him back to you, so long as you tell us what you want him for. We also want you to give us your shackle bracelet containing Atomsk. We know how reckless you are, and we don't want you misusing Atomsk's power for your own will._

_Now that you know our demands, we need a place to meet. We know that you are probably already seeking our base out, so lets meet outside the base once you find it._

_Amarao_

Haruko stuffed the paper into her jacket pocket, and started driving faster. She was determined to get Naota back, but she didn't know if she could agree to the terms Amarao was giving her. She could tell him that she wanted to be with Naota now, but she wasn't going to give up her bracelet that easily. She worked hard to get Atomsk in there.

_No matter what it takes, I'm going to get you back, Naota._

_**At the DII home base's prison block**_

Naota had been out for a few hours. When he did start to wake up, he didn't know what time it was, where he was, or why he was there. He _did_ know, however, that where he was the the moment was a bit cramped, the air was musty, and there was the sound of keys jingling in the background.

Naota slowly opened his eyes, his brain 'rebooting' and getting used to his surroundings. As his brain gained the ability to think more complex, he saw that he was sitting up against the wall in a small, cold room with metal walls, no windows, and a single door with a small barred window on it. Naota's first thought was _jail cell_. After a minute of thinking, he changed his mind to _insane criminal containment_. He didn't know why he had thought that. It must have been the lack of windows.

The sound of jingling keys and footsteps seemed to be getting closer. He made sure to keep listening, but he focused more on trying remember what had recently happened. He could remember being tied to the chair in the interrogation room, and Amarao asking him those questions. Everything was a bit blurry after that, but he had a vague visualization of pinning Amarao to the wall, but he couldn't tell if it was real or a dream.

Naota had forgotten to keep track of where the sound of keys and footsteps were, so he jumped a little when someone knocked on the metal door. He looked up to see Kitsurubami's face in the barred window.

"I brought you some breakfast..." Kitsurubami said nervously. A narrow opening appeared beneath the window, and a tray with a bowl of some sort of soup and a glass of water slid through it. Naota got up to take the tray. He set the tray down on the ground, but he quickly thrust his hand out the small opening, which was just big enough to get his arm through a little bit, and grabbed Kitsurubami's wrist just as she was starting to walk away. Kitsurubami gasped, and turned back to the small window.

"Kitsurubami, why is this happening to me?" Naota asked, keeping a firm grip on her wrist. Kitsurubami frowned. "I'm sorry Naota, I really am. I know this is all very hard for you, but I'm just following orders." she said. Naota didn't let go. "You have to have some say in this! What Amarao is doing is wrong!" Naota said. "I know..." Kitsurubami whispered.

Kitsurubami looked down and thought for a moment, then back up at Naota. "Truthfully, if it were up to me, you wouldn't even be here." Kitsurubami said. Naota let go of her wrist. Kitsurubami looked at him for a little while longer. "Amarao is going to interrogate you again soon. _Please_, for your own sake, and the sake of your friends, promise me that you will tell him the truth." Kitsurubami said. Naota thought for a moment, then nodded. Kitsurubami smiled for the first time in a long time. She turned and walked in he direction she came from.

Naota sat back down against the wall, next to where he had set the tray of food. He reached over to put the tray on his lap, and he picked up the spoon laying on the tray. He thought about everything that was happening, and he remembered his promise to Kitsurubami that he wouldn't lie to Amarao. Did Kitsurubami actually care about Naota? It was a good thought, to know that _someone_ cared.

_**Somewhere on the outskirts of Mabase**_

Haruko drove on the old roads outside of Mabase. She had been searching around the outskirts for about 15 minutes, with no luck. Someone living on the outskirts had given her a new map, though. This map was a bit better with roads, but Haruko had noticed that the roads in a certain area on the old map weren't printed on the new map. This could only mean one thing.

While she was driving to the location of the old roads, she noticed that the path she was driving on was slowly dissapearing. She looked at her map again, wondering if she had taken a wrong turn. It was the right way.

After about another 15 minutes of driving, the road reappeared. She noticed a large fence far in the distance. This had to be it. She continued driving, until she got to what looked like a toll booth and gate in the fence. There was a man inside the small booth, but he hadn't noticed Haruko yet.

When he looked up and saw her, he instantly recognized her. He panicked, and he reached for a button inside the booth. Haruko knew what he was about to do, she already had the Rickenbacker in her hands, aiming it like a gun at the booth. She fired it, and the large round impacted with the booth, exploding it. The man had gotten out in time, and he was laying on the ground near the wreckage of the booth. He looked up to see Haruko speeding right through the small gate and across the terrain, straight towards the DII base.

/FLCL\

_**In the DII interrogation room**_

Naota sat in the same chair he sat in yesterday. This time, his arms were restrained with metal wrist shackles attached to either arm rest of the chair. The lamp light shone right onto the middle of the table, illuminating some of the area around it. Amarao wasn't in the room yet, but there were two armed guards watching Naota.

Amarao came through the door to the room, holding a coffee cup in each hand. He looked at Naota. "Kitsurubami has convinced me that my old methods of interrogation are a bit... harsh." Amarao said. Naota could faintly see Kitsurubami standing in the background. He smiled at her, and she looked down, wringing her wrists nervously. Amarao looked at the guards and nodded. The guards each took a key out of their pocket and unlocked the wrist shackles. Naota lifted his arms up and put them on the table, rubbing where the tight shackles had been partially cutting off the circulation of blood to his hands.

Amarao set one of the coffee cups in front of Naota, then sat down in the chair on the other side of the table. "I put some sugar in it. Since you don't like the bitter stuff so much. Think of my generosity as a birthday gift." Amarao said. Naota's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about his birthday. "Seventeen, huh? Wow, it seems like just yesterday I was interrogating a twelve year old for hitting his 'TV' with his bat." Amarao said. Naota chuckled half-heartedly.

"Good to see that we understand each other. Now, can you truthfully tell me, has Raharu been telling you anything?" Amarao asked. "No." Naota said. "Has she told you what she came back for?" Amarao asked. "She says that she came back to be with me, and I believe her. What else would she want? She has Atomsk now." Naota replied. "Were off to a good start." Amarao said.

"Now, has she hit you with any guitars?" Amarao asked. "Well, just once. She hit me with that double necked hybrid guitar, but she says that the guitar can't open up my N.O. channel. That isn't the reason my N.O. channel opened up anyway." Naota explained. "Really?" Amarao said. "Enlighten me."

"Well, one day while I was at home, I got a really bad headache, but this wasn't any normal headache. I started seeing things, and at one point, I heard some weird voice say 'Your ours now' or something, then I lost consciousness. The next day, when Haruko got me that Vespa Zafferano, we went out to one of the ramen restaurants, and when the Medical Mechanica plant started letting out that steam, a weird searchlight came out of the top of it. It pointed at us, and it narrowed down until it was like a laser, and it was focused right on the center of my forehead." Naota said, tapping his forehead with his index finger for emphasis.

"And right at that moment, I could _feel_ Medical Mechanica connect with my N.O. channel and send that one robot through." Naota said. Amarao nodded. "I'm glad you have your own opinion on what happened. It shows that you _have_ matured. I think you may have a point with Medical Mechanica, but we still can't trust Raharu. She practically destroyed half of the city last time she was here, you saw it for yourself! Then she left you. Just left, not even saying goodbye or showing any affection for you. Do you understand my point of view?"Amarao asked.

"We think Raharu is here for something, but we don't know what, so thats what we are trying to find out. You are the closest person to Raharu, so we thought you would know what she was here for." Amarao said. "We wan't to study your N.O. channel to see how it works, but we told Raharu that we would give you back to her once she located this base, and I don't feel like incurring her wrath today. She most likely has already found this base."

At that moment, an alarm sounded in the base. Someone burst through the door to the interrogation room, panting like they had been running the whole way there. "Commander, Raharu has just gotten past guard post three!" the man said, handing him a walkie-talkie. Amarao took the walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"Get the convoy ready, Raharu is here!" Amarao said to the person on the other line. "Roger that." was the response from the other line. Amarao took a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on, and nodded to one of the guards, who put a hand on Naota's shoulder, bringing him up out of the chair. "You can bring your coffee if you want." Amarao said, walking out the door. Kitsurubami and the guards were close behind.

_**A few miles outside the DII base**_

Haruko drove the Vespa at full speed towards the base. She could see a few large buildings and a radio tower very far into the distance, so she suspected that she had found it. She could see a few black specks near the base. she stopped the Vespa, and took out her binoculars. The specks were a bunch of black vans, and a small black car leading them. All the windows were tinted, so she couldn't see who was driving.

She waited there for about thirty seconds until the convoy got to her. When all the vehicles had stopped, the backs of the vans opened up, a bunch of armed men getting out of each one. After that, the two vans in the middle drove out to make room for a large military tank that was taking the place of them. The black car's doors opened, and Amarao got out of the passenger side, Kitsurubami getting out of the drivers side, and two more armed men getting out of the back doors.

Haruko got off her Vespa, and took the two guitars off the back of it, the other two guitars still slung on her back. It made her look like a commando, only with guitars. "It didn't take you long to find the base, I'm impressed." Amarao said. Haruko scowled. "Where is Naota?" Haruko demanded. Amarao nodded to two of the armed men, who stood apart so another armed man could get through, who was holding Naota's shoulder with one hand and had the barrel of a pistol pressed against Naota's head.

There was a bruise where Amarao had hit Naota during the first interrogation. This angered Haruko, and a gun being pressed to Naota's head didn't help. "You bastards..." Haruko said, ger grip tightening on the necks of the two guitars until her knuckles turned white. "Thats what _I_ said!" Naota yelled. Kitsurubami snickered at the remark. "Hold up your end of the deal. "Tell us what you want Naota for, and give us the bracelet." Amarao said. Haruko scowled again.

"I don't _want_ Naota for anything! I came back so I could be with him, because I made the wrong decision of leaving him in the first place!" Haruko yelled. Amarao scoffed. "Tell us the truth, Raharu! You don't care about him! Never have, never will!" Amarao yelled back.

At this point, Haruko couldn't take it anymore. She was more angry than she had been in years. "Thats where your wrong, Amarao!" Haruko yelled. Suddenly, she took Naota's Reverse Flying V bass off her back and threw it at Naota. Naota, seeing what Haruko was trying to do, caught the guitar, broke out of the guard's grasp, turned around and smacked him with the guitar. The man flew back from the blow, knocking over a few of the other men. Naota sprinted next to Haruko, holding the guitar in one hand.

"You... you can't do that!" Amarao said, taking his own pistol out of his jacket and aiming it at them. Naota laughed, Atomsk's symbol starting to appear on his forehead. "You were right, Amarao, I _have_ grown up. Because if I was twelve still, I couldn't do this!" Naota yelled. He pulled the pull cord on the Reverse Flying V bass, spun around and threw it at Amarao like a javelin. Amarao jumped out of the way just in time, and the guitar grazed the top of the black car and kept going, until impaling itself in the military tank behind it. The guitar hit a vital system in the tank, making it explode. The men near the tank jumped away from the tank, but one of the vans near it exploded just a little after the tank. The explosion sent the guitar flying back at Naota. Naota caught the guitar with one hand and heaved it above his head, bringing it down on the ground beside him, making the strings reverberate loudly and cracking the icy ground in many places.

The line of armed men standing behind Amarao shifted uncomfortably. Haruko was in awe at the move Naota just pulled. She absentmindedly held the Rickenbacker out beside her, which Naota took in his other hand. Haruko then smiled and laughed. "Oh boy, you got my Ta-kun mad now!" she said. When Haruko said this, the symbol on Naota's forehead flared brightly.

Naota started walking forward slowly. One of the armed men panicked and shot his pistol at Naota once. Naota dropped the Rickenbacker for a moment, and snapping his arm up in a blur, _caught_ the bullet. Naota examined the bullet for a moment, smiled evilly, and flicked the bulled back towards them, the bulled landing harmlessly on the ground. The man who fired panicked even more, and ran away.

Naota walked up to Kitsurubami, who was kneeling down with her hands on top of her head, as if to take cover. Naota took her by the sleeve of her uniform and lifted her up off the ground. Kitsurubami yelped in fear and tried to get away, until she made eye contact with Naota. Naota smiled at her, calming her down a little bit.

"You may want to go stand by Haruko if you don't want part of this." Naota said, setting her down gently. Kitsurubami ran over to Haruko, and Naota turned back to Amarao and the armed men.

Naota was considered a threat now. "Fire at will!" Amarao yelled. All of the armed men fired at Naota at once. The rounds slowed down and dissipated when they got close to him. Naota threw the Rickenbacker straight up in the air, holding the Reverse Flying V bass in a gun pose, aiming at one of the black vans. He pulled the pull cord and struck one of the strings. Suddenly, a continuously streaming green laser shot out of the end of the neck. As soon as the laser made contact with the van, the vehicle exploded. Once the Rickenbacker came back down, he held his hand up to catch it, then he spun around and threw the guitar at a few of the armed men. The guitar his one of the men, then arced sideways, hitting a bunch of other men before flying back to Naota like a boomerang.

Naota looked at one of the other vans, and stared at it. The van started to slowly dissipate into what looked like ash, until the substance swirled around, streaming towards Naota's forehead. He absorbed the substance until there was nothing left. One of Amarao's large fake eyebrows twitched.

"He can use N.O. at his own will now!" Amarao yelled. Naota looked at all the armed guards, who were surprised when they saw their guns dissipate in their hands, then be absorbed by Naota. They were all defenseless now.

Amarao shot at Naota with his own pistol. Naota noticed, and he ran towards Amarao, stopping a few feet in front of him. Naota stared at Amarao, who dropped his weapon in fear. Naota threw the two guitars in his hands at Haruko, who caught them, and casually whistled. Kitsurubami was watching Naota in awe.

"I have something special planned for you..." Naota said. Amarao gulped. Suddenly, Naota plunged his arm into the center of his forehead, right into his N.O. channel. He felt around, until he found what he was looking for. He slowly pulled his arm out of his head. The glowing red neck of a guitar could be seen in his hand. He pulled the guitar out all the way. The red glow on it slowly faded away.

It was a left handed B. C. Rich Beast V NT guitar. Haruko and Kitsurubami's jaws both dropped, and Amarao turned pale as soon as he saw it. He fell to his knees. "I'm so sorry Naota, _please_ don't hurt me! I-I'm sorry! Come on, show some mercy! I was just doing my job! We all were!" Amarao pleaded. Naota scoffed. "Sorry, all outta mercy." he said. He held the guitar like a baseball bat. He was about to swing, when Haruko ran up to him and grabbed the body of the guitar, keeping Naota from swinging.

"Let him go, Naota. I think he gets the point." Haruko said. Naota slowly untensed, the glowing Atomsk symbol on his forehead slowly fading away. He lowered the guitar. The guitar had conveniently come with a strap, a black and red celtic weave design printed on it. He slung the guitar on his back.

"Do you still have my Vespa?" Naota asked. Amarao, seeing that he wasn't going to get hurt, scrambled to his feet and turned to the now unarmed men standing several meters away. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get him his Vespa!" Amarao yelled at them. The men scrambled to one of the vans, opening the back and getting the Zafferano out of it. They brought it over to him. Naota checked the keys compartment. The keys were there. His helmet and goggles hung off one of the handlebars.

"Oh, before I go..." Naota said, unslinging his new Beast V guitar, and holding it in playing position. "Think of this as a little payback for giving me this bruise." He took a transparent red guitar pick from out of nowhere, and started playing the guitar too fast to be normal. Everyone watched him in awe, especially Haruko. From what she knew, Naota could only play the bass.

Naota ended his 'solo' with a long note, and all of the vans and the car suddenly exploded. Everyone was already far away enough not to be injured, and everyone turned around to see the vehicles explode. Naota slung the guitar back onto his back, and turned towards his Vespa.

He got on the Vespa, starting it up and putting his helmet and goggles on. Haruko went back to her own Vespa, starting it and putting her helmet on. Haruko drove up next to Naota, and hung the Reverse Flying V and the Rickenbacker onto his Vespa. They both started to drive back in the direction of the exit. Amarao walked up next to Kitsurubami, watching the two Vespas fade into the distance.

"They can't be real." Amarao said. "Well, they have to be, or else your mens' guns wouldn't be missing, and all of our vehicles wouldn't be destroyed." Kitsurubami said. Amarao turned around to face his men.

"Everyone, lets head back to base. We have a long walk ahead of us." Amarao said, starting to walk in the direction of the base, with his men and Kitsurubami close behind.

_Good luck, Naota_, Kisturubami thought, looking back in the direction of the two Vespa drivers as they dissapeared into the distance.

/FLCL\

Naota sat on his bed, examining the Beast V guitar, the newest addition to his guitar collection. This made six guitars, which he smiled at. He had always wanted to get more guitars, and he had gained three in just two days.

He wasn't the only one who was surprised when he had played the guitar like a pro, when he only knew how to play the bass guitar.

Haruko suddenly came through the door and sat next to him. She was already dressed into yellow pajamas, despite it being a couple hours before everyone heads to bed. "If you only know how to play bass, how come you were able to play that thing like your Eddie Van Halen?" Haruko questioned, eyeing him suspiciously. Naota chuckled. "To be honest, I don't know. There felt like there was some sort of presence in the guitar, and I guess It just suddenly taught me how to play guitar like a pro." Naota answered.

"Can you do it again?" Haruko asked. Naota chuckled nervously. "I don't know, I could try, but I'm not sure if I can do it again. I don't even know how I did it the first time." Naota said. "Well, try." Haruko said, already plugging one end of an amplifying cord into the guitar and the other into his amp. Naota got his new guitar pick from out of his pocket and looked at the guitar for a moment.

When he looked at the guitar, he could feel some sort of presence enter his brain. It felt similar to what he felt when he played the guitar to destroy all of the vehicles at the DII base. He decided what song to play, and he brought the pick up to the strings. He started to play the second half of the song Eruption by Eddie Van Halen.

He picked the strings and moved his fingers across the neck at an impossible speed, only matched by Van Halen himself. Haruko watched, amazed at the speed that Naota played the guitar. Near the end of the song, Naota's dad peeked in through the door to see his son playing a new guitar at an impossible speed. He watched in awe, until Naota finished the song.

"Naota, how did you _do_ that?" Kamon questioned, hurrying into the room. Naota jumped, and looked up at his dad. "Your back already?" Naota asked. "Yes, me and your grandfather just got back. How did you play that guitar that fast? Where did all of these new guitars come from?" Kamon asked. "Well, uh..." Naota mumbled, trying to think of something to tell him.

"They were gifts from a few friends of mine, and Naota has been practicing for a long time now. Cool, isn't it?" Haruko said. Kamon scratched the top of his head, not knowing what to say.

"Why are Ninamori-san and that other girl here?" Kamon asked. It had never occured to Naota that he had never introduced Mamimi to his father before. "Oh, they spent the night here. Ninamori got a cold or something, and she needs to rest. The other girl is Mamimi, one of my friends. She is taking care of Ninamori." Naota explained.

"Well, they can stay for as long as they like." Kamon said, going to the door and starting to go back downstairs, closing the door of the room behind him. "Dinner will be ready soon, so don't fall asleep!" Kamon said as he walked down the stairs. A few seconds later, Haruko looked back at Naota.

"We should go downstairs and hang out until dinner." she said. She thought for a moment, then grinned, leaning against Naota and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Or, we could stay here, where we're alone..." Haruko said, giving him a wink. Naota blushed. "Why do you want us to be alone so much?" Naota asked nervously. Haruko moved herself so that she was straddling Naota's hips while he sat on the bed, their noses barely touching.

"Well, I want to make up for lost time. I was away for four years, y'know." Haruko said, grinning. She suddenly leaned forward, forcing Naota to lay flat on the bed. Naota had a flashback of when Haruko did this same thing with him four years ago. Haruko giggled.

"Would you like this better if I was just wearing my towel?" Haruko asked. Naota blinked incredulously. Haruko giggled again, and slowly moved her head closer to his. Naota knew what she meant to do, and slowly did the same. When they were close enough, they engaged in a long kiss, both of them closing their eyes.

After they seperated from the kiss, Haruko slowly slid off Naota to lay beside him. They lay like that for a while, until Naota sat up on the bed. "Haruko, we should be heading downstairs." Naota said. Haruko took hold of Naota's wrist to pull him back with her.

"No, I want to stay here and cuddle with you..." Haruko said tiredly, a small grin on her face and her eyes half closed. Naota pulled his arm out of her grip. "You know what would happen if my dad found us like that." Naota said. Haruko grabbed his arm again, pulling at him with enough force to bring him back onto his back next to Haruko. "Quit making excuses, you big baby." Haruko said, laying her head on Naota's shoulder and throwing her leg over him to keep him from getting up again.

Naota knew that there was no use of trying to get up again, so he got comfortable. He slid his arm under Haruko and pulled her closer, Haruko allowing it. "There you go..." Haruko said quietly, nuzzling into his neck. Naota smiled slightly.

They lay there for a little while, until there was a knock on the bedroom door. Naota and Haruko both jumped at the sound, both of them comfortable and unsuspecting in their snuggling. Naota sat up on the bed and got up, Haruko close behind. Naota opened the door, greeted by his wrist being grabbed by Mamimi.

"Come on, you two, dinner is ready!" Mamimi said, and a few seconds later, she was practically dragging Naota down the stairs. Haruko followed, laughing her head off. The three got downstairs, and Naota recovered from being pulled around. "How long were we up there?" Naota asked. "A few hours." Mamimi replied. This surprised Naota, it didn't seem like that long. They went to the dinner table to see Kamon, Shigekuni, and Ninamori already at the table, while Canti cleaned a few dishes over the sink.

Ninamori didn't look so well. She looked pale and tired, and an electronic thermometer was propped between her lips. When she saw Naota, her spirits seemed to lift a little bit. She smiled, and the thermometer beeped, Mamimi quickly walking to her and taking the thermometer, examining the tiny screen that showed the temperature.

"One hundred and two! You better stay here for another night, Ninamori-san. I'll call your parents to let them know." Mamimi said, hurrying out of the room. Haruko and Naota sat down at the table, bowls of ramen already there.

"Good to see you two could finally join us. Tasuku finally sent us another letter, and I wanted to read it out to everyone." Kamon said, taking the letter out from the middle of the table. He opened it, and Mamimi came in from the other room and sat down with them. Kamon was about to start reading the contents, when his eyes widened.

"This letter is blank!" Kamon said, showing it to everyone. Mamimi and Ninamori gasped, Haruko gazed at the letter like something ultra-important was written on it, and Shigekuni just huffed and crossed his arms. "It figures he would do something like that! He was always a little trickster when he was a kid, but I don't know why he would-" Shigekuni was a master of ranting.

While Shigekuni ranted, Naota took the blank paper in his hands and flipped it over, in case there was something written on the other side. He sat the paper down on the table and stared at his ramen. Why would Tasuku send a blank letter? Was there a mistake in mailing? Did Tasuku put a blank paper in the envelope accidentally? The mystery didn't seem to bother Haruko, who had proceeded to rapidly eat the ramen in front of her.

"Don't worry about it," Haruko said between bites, "It was probably just a mistake." Kamon started to eat his ramen as well. "Your probably right, Haruko-san. Now, lets eat!" he said. Everyone started eating except for Naota, who just blankly stared at his ramen. Too much was going through his mind to focus on eating.

After a little bit, Naota decided to eat too. No-one talked the entire time, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of clanking dishes where Canti was cleaning them in the sink.

"So, Mamimi-san, what do you do for a living?"Kamon said. "Oh, I'm a photographer. I work mainly in America, but every once in a while they send me to some foreign country to take photos for a story." Mamimi explained. "America, you say? Did you see Tasuku there at all?" Kamon asked. "Not in person, but I watched him play baseball on television." Mamimi said. "Hmm. I work as a writer, myself. I own a mini-zine called 'Kamon Mabase'. You should read it sometime." Kamon said. "I will, when I get the chance." Mamimi said.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Kamon asked. Mamimi stared at him incredulously. Haruko snickered, and Naota lowered his head. Shigekuni was a little irritated by his son's remark. "Why would you ask her something like that? She looks too young for you anyway! How old are you? Twenty, twenty-one?" Shikekuni asked, directed toward Mamimi. "Yes, twenty-one." Mamimi said. Kamon raised his hands defensively. "I didn't mean like that, I was just curious!" he said. Everyone finished eating a few minutes later.

"I'm going to take Ninamori back out to the living room. See you in the morning, everyone!" Mamimi said, getting up and walking to Ninamori. She helped her out of the chair, then escorted her into the living room. Before they left the room, Ninamori reached out her hand and grabbed Naota's shoulder softly. Naota looked up at her, and they both smiled.

"Goodnight, Naota..." Ninamori said softly, before Mamimi walked her out of the room. A few seconds later, Shigekuni got up and went to his room, while Kamon walked out to the living room as well. Naota hoped that he wouldn't try to flirt with Mamimi some more.

"Come on Naota, lets go to bed." Haruko said, walking out of the room to the stairs. Naota got up and followed her. When they got up to his room, Haruko closed the door and crawled into the bottom bunk of the bed.

"Crazy day, huh?" Haruko said. "Yeah." Naota simply replied, a long yawn following after. He laid down on the bed next to Haruko. Haruko snuggled up to him. Their eyes met, and they both smiled. Haruko gave Naota a quick kiss before laying her head down on his shoulder and closing her eyes. Naota closed his eyes as well, feeling the effects of sleepiness take over.

"I love you..." he heard Haruko say before drifting into sleep. "I love you too." he replied, just as he fell asleep.

/End Credits\

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><p><em>And thats it. I hope you like this chapter, and I hope you read the next one once I post it.<em>

_The line that Naota says, 'Sorry, all outta mercy', Is actually a line said in the Ghost Rider movie. The 'solo' that Naota plays to destroy all the DII vehicles is the guitar solo from Willet's song 'You Don't Ask Where the Snake Came From... You Just Kill It'. Long name, I know, but a good song, in my opinion. This episode/chapter is named after the Japanese deprivation of Haruko's name, 'haru' meaning spring, and 'ko' meaning child._

_Until next time,_

_Gman_


	8. Effort Indolore

_Hey, everyone. Sorry I haven't been working on this lately, I needed some time to recoup some ideas. I have this episide and the next one planned out, but after that, I'm out of ideas again._

_I know that some of you might be afraid to give me ideas because you fear that I'll reject them, but let me assure you that I will consider every idea that is presented to me. If you take a chance and give me an idea, then you __might__ see your idea incorporated into my fanfic! And don't worry, I **always** give credit. Speaking of credit, thanks to my friend Shiro for some ideas for this chapter and the following chapter._

_One thing I have noticed about previous chapters is that I haven't provided much of a soundtrack for it, except for some parts. So from now on, I'll put little notes in during the course of the following chapters saying what music I can imagine playing to the story. And also, you may notice that my writing style has changed in this chapter compared to previous chapters. That is most likely because I've read two Stephen King books in the amount of time between the release of the previous chapter and this chapter._

_Please read and review, and I hope you like this chapter!_

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><p>Study hall. Probably the best class of the day, in Naota's opinion.<p>

Naota was sitting at one of the large rectangular tables with three other people, and reading a large book. "Under the Dome", by Stephen King. A rather big book, but a good read. Not very school-appropriate, very explicit content included. Of course, not many people were going to take a book that size off the shelf anyway, the librarians must have figured that no-one would want to read it. Of course, they thought wrong.

In the seat across from him, another student was listening to music on the newest WalkMan model, and the person next to him was working on an assignment for History. The person next to Naota was snoozing in his seat, using his crossed arms on the table as a pillow. It was the only class of the day where you were allowed to do it, so you had to take advantage of it. The only downside was that you would probably be tired in your next class.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some movement. In a class as quiet as that, it was rare to see any sudden movements, so Naota lifted his head up from the book to see what was going on. When he looked up, he saw a three of the older students looking across their table to another one, where one student sat alone, reading a book also. One of the older students was holding a paper airplane, a minor classroom contraption/annoyance.

Suddenly, the student threw the paper airplane towards the lone student at the other table. It flew in a straight path, a path that ended on the side of the student's head. The student didn't turn his head to see what hit him until a few seconds later. The paper plane was laying next to his History assignment, propped up on its side. He picked up the simple contraption and examined it, looking up to the student who threw it after.

The students at the table motioned for him to throw the plane back. The student looked at them, looked at the plane, then back at them. He closed his hand around the paper plane, crushing it, then he tossed the crumpled paper into the trash bin a few feet from him.

At first, the older students had a look of awe on their faces. Then, slight anger. Naota figured that if they were really into that plane, then that student was going to get a good talking-to later that day. And by talking-to, he meant gang-up insult(s).

The student who threw the plane look the most irritated of them all, and it acually seemed like he was going to get out of his seat and do something, if the bell hadn't rung and the teacher looked up from her paperwork. Everyone quickly got up out of their seats and shuffled to the door, the older student and the lone student keeping an eye on each other.

Next class: Band. Another one of Naota's favorite classes.

The school band wasn't just orchestral instruments: Anyone could play whatever they could play. That meant that people played guitars, drum sets, keyboards, etc. along with the standard school band instruments. One person even brings in their laptop to do special effects on. Despite this policy, not a lot of people brought their own instruments, but played the school's instruments.

Naota played his acrylic bass at school (not wanting to bring Haruko's bass, as it is equal to a holy relic to him). There were two twins that had moved to Mabase at the beginning of the year who were the Rock N' Roll/Metal genre ambassadors of the class (as if Naota didn't like the music enough).

One of them was named Arata, a drummer. The other was Tsubasa, the bass player. His bass was a five string also, a custom ordered Fender Affinity Precision, all black except for a detailed, angelic wing spreading horizontally across the body. Naota suspected that this was relevant to Tsubasa's name, because Tsubasa means "wing" in Japanese.

There was never any debates on who the best bass player was throughout the school year. If anything, Naota and the twins were good friends, and the three had worked together on songs before. Several times through the year, one of the three would play a song, one of the other two would recognize the song and play too, then the third person would recognize it and play too. Once or twice, the sound effects guy added some sounds where they fit in, making the experience even cooler. It was fun, but it usually didn't last for long, because it was a class, not a weekend jam session.

**(Music start: The first bass riff of St. Anger by Metallica played repeatedly. Imagine it different from the original, like someone else was playing it)**

Naota pushed open the door to the large band classroom. Several of the students were already in there, getting their instruments out or tuning. Arata and Tsubasa were there, already ready to play. They were usually the first ones to get there. Tsubasa was sitting down and continually playing the intro bass line from St. Anger by Metallica, while Arata was sitting at his drum set, watching him and nodding.

Tsubasa noticed Naota coming in and stopped playing. He smiled and carefully laid his bass on the floor, getting up. The two walked towards each other. "Hey, Naota! Whats up, dude?" Tsubasa said cheerfully. "Hey, Tsuba. Not much, today is a tired day" Naota replied. When the two got close enough, they did their own personal knuckle bump, which involved bumping their knuckles, doing the explosion, then reversing it, something the three had come up with themselves. After that, Tsubasa clapped a hand on Naota's shoulder.

"I hear you dude, Arata could barely keep his eyes open in Math today." Tsubasa said, and pointed a thumb over his shoulder and twitched his head towards Arata, who nodded and shrugged. The two walked to their little spot in the back of the room, and Naota reached for his gig bag containing his bass. Tsubasa sat back down and picked up his own bass, continuing to play the St. Anger line.

Naota had his bass out, and he was plugging it into the nearby amplifier. "Been listening to St. Anger, Tsuba?" Naota said while getting ready. Across the room, the sound effects kid played some sort of wind sound. "Yeah, and not just the song, either. I've been listening to the album over and over since a few days ago. Not Metallica's best album, but there are definetely some good songs on there." He replied, not slowing down on his bass playing.

"Thats true," Naota said, sitting down with his bass in his hands, "Lars really did something weird to his drums in that album, but it sounds really good." Arata nodded. "I'm not sure if he did that to his snare or something, its really cool." he said, playing the bass drum a few times to make sure the tone was okay.

"Yeah, it is." Naota replied, playing the strings on his bass from highest to lowest, tuning the middle string up a little bit. When he was done tuning, he started playing the St. Anger tune with Tsubasa. Tsubasa smiled, not taking his eyes off his bass. They both played that for a little bit, and Arata was about to start drumming to it too, when they all heard a loud clap from across the room.

In walked the music class teacher, Mr. Oroki. To many, he was the nicest, funnest music instructor in the world. He was indeed a nice teacher, and he was always happy about something.

"Alright, you guys!" The teacher said, fast-walking into the room. He pointed at Tsubaki and Naota. "St. Anger, nice!" he said while walking. He stopped behind the little poduim at the front of the classroom and planted his hands on it. "Alright everyone, I have some news. The school concert is being changed to a few days _after_ our original date to make room for the Romeo and Juliet play."

A few people in the class groaned in disapproval, including Arata and Tsubasa, and the sound effects guy played a weird, low sound, a mix of a sour piano note and a 'wow' sound. Naota didn't really care on the matter. Mr. Oroki raised his hands up. "I'm sorry everyone, but it's not my choice. The school board had to relocate everything, not just the concert. The pep assembly is still going to be the same day."

He clapped his hands together again. "Alright, enough of that! Time for today's lesson. I was able to bring someone in to talk to us about some of the important things in music that we rarely talk about." He looked to the door, then waved whoever was standing out there into the room.

The person Naota saw almost made him want to leave the class. The person who came in was Haruko wearing a knee-length purple skirt, a bright red shirt, and a brown fur sweater. She had shaded glasses on her nose, and her ears were peirced with simple gold studs. She wore high heels that matched her hair color. Her light pink hair was tied into the shortest ponytail that Naota had ever seen.

"Everyone, this is Miss Haruka Naharu. She specifically asked to talk at this school." Mr. Oroki said. "The pleasure is all mine," 'Miss Naharu' said, "I heard a lot fo good things about this school and its band, I just _had_ to be here." she said, in a slightly deeper voice than her normal voice. Oroki turned back towards her and smiled. "Well, it is an honor to have such a fine musician here, Miss." He said.

'Miss Naharu' Looked around the classroom, trying to scope out her target. No-one could tell where she was looking because of her glasses except for Naota, who paled a little bit when her eyes fixed on him. She smiled a little bit, then looked at the people in the front row of chairs, mainly the flutes and clarinets. She looked over each row until she stopped at Naota and the twins again, then she turned back to Mr. Oroki.

"This class is a little unorthodox, because there is more than just the normal school band instruments in here." She said, leisurely pointing towards the back of the class, where the 'other' instruments were. The sound effects student shifted a little, while Naota and the twins just stood still and stared at her. 'Miss Naharu' pointed at the sound effects student.

"What is your name?" she asked. "Umm..." the student went, as if he had forgotten his name for a moment, "Jackson, Ma'am." 'Miss Naharu' oohed. "American name, how fancy. What do you play in this class?" she asked. Jackson glanced at his laptop, then looked back at her. "Special effects, Ma'am." 'Miss Naharu' oohed again. "More fanciness! And cut with the Ma'am, we're not in the military. Play something for me."

Jackson looked back at his laptop, running his finger across the mousepad. The tapped his finger against the mousepad a few seconds later, and almost immediately after he tapped it, a wind sound started playing. 'Miss Naharu' nodded, and turned to Mr. Onaki. "And you actually use him?" She asked.

Mr. Onaki nodded. "We use him for wind or other sounds, but he can also synthesize other instruments almost perfectly, so we also use him to fill in the place of an instrument that we need for a certain song." He explained. "Mmhmm." She acknowledged, glancing back to Naota.

Naota quickly raised his hand. Mr. Onaki noticed him almost immediately. "Yes, Mr. Nandaba?" he said. Naota lowered his hand. "Can I go to the bathroom please, Mr. Onaki?" Naota asked, looking at 'Miss Naharu' and making sure she was looking at him, then he glanced at the door quickly, then back at her, trying to tell her to come out too. "Yes you may, Naota, but make it quick. You don't want to miss what Miss Naharu is going to talk about." He said.

Naota nodded, and quickly got up and walked to the door, glancing back at 'Miss Naharu', who kept her eyes on his through her glasses. Shortly after Naota left, she turned back to Mr. Onaki. "Oh, I forgot, I left something in my car. I'll be right back, Mr. Onaki." She said, and started walking to the other door before Mr. Onaki could respond. Haruko walked through the hall and turned a corner to find Naota standing there waiting for her. He had a worried look on his face, and his skin was slightly paler than normal.

"What are you doing here?" Naota whispered loudly. Haruko took off her glasses. "I needed to come and tell you something," Haruko said in her normal voice, "Ninamori wanted me to tell you something, since she wasn't at school today, and it seemed really important." Haruko said. Naota sighed in relief at the fact that Haruko wasn't at the school to toy with him.

"She told me to tell you that she needs you to meet her at the one old house near the river after school, the abandoned one. She needs your help with something, and she said to be quick." Haruko explained. Naota nodded. "Alright." He said. Haruko nodded. "Now, go to the bathroom. I need to get something from my car." She said, turning away. Naota stopped her. "Wait, your car? You don't own a car, not that I know of, anyway." Naota said.

"Oh, I borrowed your dad's van. He had no problem with it, I told him that my Vespa was out of gas." Haruko explained. Naota sighed again. "Alright, see you in a few minutes." Naota said, then the two turned and walked to their destinations.

Naota waited outside the bathroom to make it seem like he was actually going to the bathroom, then he went back to the band room. On his way there, he saw Haruko again, who winked at him and gave him a thumbs-up. Naota smiled, then opened the door and went back to his seat near the twins.

Haruko started to talk to the class about advanced music properties. Naota pretty much knew all of it because of studying, so he daydreamed while Haruko talked. He mostly tried to think of reasons why Ninamori would want him to meet him by the old river-house. A lot of the school's drug users liked to hand out around there and the path to it.

Haruko's lecture lasted for most of the class. When she was done, and she was ready to leave, she looked back over to Naota. Naota came out of his daydreaming state, sensing eyes on him, and looked back up at Haruko. Haruko smiled, lowered her glasses down a little bit so Naota could see her eyes, and mouthed "See you after school". Naota nodded quickly, glancing around the room to make sure no-one saw him exchanging words with the visitor in silence.

"I should be going now, Mr. Onaki, I have a few places to be." Haruko said, still sporting her Miss Naharu voice, then she turned to the rest of the class. "It has been nice meeting all of you, you are a very unique class." She said, glancing at Naota one last time before walking out the door.

Mr. Onaki looked around the room for a few seconds, then clapped his hands together. "Well, that was interesting! Since we only have a little while left in class, you can all just practice whatever you want." He said, then he turned and walked into his little office at one side of the room.

All of the students just sat there, not knowing what to do next. Then, Jackson played that one wind sound again and broke the silence. A few other people started playing random music peices, and were soon joined by more. Eventually, everyone except for Naota and the twins were playing some sort of music.

Naota was still staring at the front of the room where Haruko was standing before. A few seconds later, he felt something bump his shoulder. He looked to the side and saw Tsubasa with a big grin on his face. "Nice that you have come back to reality, Mr. Sandman! Now, what do you wanna do?" He said, strumming a few random chords on his bass.

"Not sure, there isn't much time left in class." Naota said, looking down at his own bass. He plucked at the highest string a few times, then brought his other hand up to the fretboard and started playing a random rythym. Tsubasa stopped playing his random notes and started to play the opening guitar peice to The House Jack Built by Metallica. Naota stopped playing and smiled.

"More Metallica?" Naota asked. Tsubasa smiled and looked up from his bass, still playing. "Yeah, I'm in a Metallica trance at the moment." He said, then looked back down at his bass. He kept playing that over and over again, until Naota joined him. They both played that for a little while, then Arata added the beginning cymbal crash to the song. They played that for a few measures, then Arata added the bass drum to the song, and Naota played the lead part of the song.

They weren't able to play for long, because Mr. Onaki came out of his office and told them to start putting their instruments away or else they will be late for their next class. Naota and Tsubasa put away all of their equipment, while Arata got up and waited at the door, for he left the drum set at school. Across the room, Jackson closed his laptop and collected the cords for it, stuffing them all into his laptop carrier bag, which was laying nearby.

Right when Naota and Tsubasa were done putting their instruments away, Mr. Onaki dismissed them. Everyone left out the doors on either side of the room into the hallways. Tsubasa and Arata had different classes than Naota, so they turned a corner into a different hallway, giving Naota a wave. Naota waved back, and kept walking.

/FLCL\

Naota sat in his last class of the day before school was over, Environmental Science. Mr. Fedaki had just finished collecting the day's assignment, and everyone was either working on other work or sitting and waiting for the day to end. Most of the students had brough their bookbags to the last class, so it would save them the last trip to their lockers at the end of the day. Naota was one of these people, but for a good reason. According to Haruko's message, he had to get to the river quickly today.

Mr. Fedaki stood up from his chair behind his desk. He wasn't short, but Naota was taller than him. "All of you people who still owe me work from last quarter better start working, because if all of your work isn't in by next Thursday, your grade automatically gets changed to a forty percent."

Naota didn't pay attention, becuase he was completely caught up with all of his classes. He glanced at the clock, which was digital, and realized that it was only about thirty seconds before they would all be dismissed. He tapped his foot, waiting for the clock to change.

As soon as the clock turned tot he next minute, Mr. Fedaki dismissed them. Everyone quickly got out of their seats and walked to the door. Naota fast-walked through the maze of hallways to the front doors of the school, opening them up and welcoming the smell of fresh air into the school.

It felt good to be free. It had been a long day at school, and he was ready for a break, but he wasn't done yet. He had to meet Ninamori by the river. The walk to the river was about ten minutes, so he kept fast-walking to try and minimize the time spent walking.

It took him about five minuted before he got to the sidewalks that went beneath the many bridges of the river. As soon as he got there, he saw the first of the druggies on the sidewalk. Most of them were high schoolers who smuggled a few cigarettes out of a gas station, but some of them had worse stuff. There were a few packs of four or five people who were smoking something that didn't smell like cigarettes. He should know, he hung out with a smoker for most of his childhood.

He kept walking, passing by more little packs of people. One time, a random guy held an open box of cigarettes out to him and aked him if he wanted a smoke. Naota ignored him and kept walking. He was here for one thing only: to make sure Ninamori was alright.

There were a lot of people there. There were people smoking cigarettes, some marijuana, and he thought he even saw a guy sniffing cocaine with a razor in his hand on a nearby tree stump. He couldn't believe how stupid these people were, they were bound to kill themselves with these drugs.

He eventually saw the old abandoned shack in the distance. Not many people were there, but he saw someone standing near the damaged door. A girl from the looks of it, wearing blue jeans and a Skillet t-shirt. Her purple hair was left untied, and hung down her shoulders. She stood with her head tilted down slightly, staring at the ground. Ninamori.

As he got closer, Ninamori noticed the footsteps coming in her direction. She looked up, and seeing Naota, smiled. She walked towards him,and when they got close enough to each other, she hugged him lightly.

"It's good to see you, Naota." She said, pulling away from him but keeping her hands on his arms in a light grip. Naota smiled back at her. "It's good to see you too, Ninamori. It took you a few days to get better, I'm glad that you are good enough to get outside now. Is Mamimi still at the house?" Naota asked. "Yeah, she is. She told me that her parents are trying to get to her, and she sys she doesn't really want anything to do with them, so she asked your dad if she could stay for a little longer. Of course, he said yes." Ninamori explained.

Naota nodded, then looked around. "So, why did you want us to meet in druggie paradise?" Naota said, twitching his head towards one of the lone people standing near them smoking a cigarette. Ninamori looked down a little bit and held her hands behind her back. She gulped, then looked back up at Naota.

"There are these guys... Who, well, won't leave me alone. They have been harassing me for a while. They did it while I was on my way here, they skipped school today and were walking around the town. I guess that I'm one of their main targets but..." Ninamori paused for a moment, "Today was really bad. They had be backed into a building, and one of the guys, the main guy if I'm right, got a little too close..."

Naota didn't understand, but understood at the same time. Ninamori needed someone to protect her. He had no problem with it, he knew how vicious the people at the school could get. Naota put his hands on Ninamori's shoulders. "What do you mean he got close?" Naota asked seriously. He didn't want to find out that someone had hurt Ninamori.

"Him and his friends tried to get me into one of the alleyways. I didn't give them a chance, but the guy was really pushy. He grabbed onto me and tried to push me, but I broke away from him and got away. I had to run. I was afraid that they were going to..." Ninamori trailed off, blushing. She hid her face in Naota's chest.

"I was afraid that they were going to do something..." Ninamori whispered. Naota brought one of his hands up from her shoulder and moved it to her head. "Its alright..." He whispered. Then he realized something. "How were you able to get Haruko to give me a message to meet you here?" Ninamori lifted her head up to look at him again. "I passed by the grocery store and found Haruko there. I told her what had happened, and she told me that she would tell you to meet me here."

Naota understood now. He moved his hand on Ninamori's head down to her back and patted it once. "Its alright, I'll help you out, but what makes you think that they are going to be here?" Naota asked. Ninamori tilted her head to the side to look past Naota's head, and she paled a little bit. She raised a hand up and pointed behind Naota.

"That's why..." she said quietly, and she got a little closer to Naota. Naota turned around, keeping his hand on ther arm, and he noticed four people walking towards him. They were high schoolers, he had seen them in the school before, but not today. Ninamori was right about them skipping. The one leading them was a tall, tan, dirty blonde-haired boy. They all wore trench coats, each one varying in color according to the wearer.

The leader seemed to notice Ninamori hiding behind Naota, and smirked. "Hey, Ninamori! What happened earlier, we were just trying to talk to you!" He said. One of the students walking behind him acknowledged him. Ninamori gripped onto Naota a little tighter, trying to hide behind him further. Naota pushed Ninamori behind him a little more.

Naota stood tall. "Don't come near her." He said in a serious tone. One of the other students recognized Naota, and his eyes widened a little bit. "Kakashi, thats Naota Nandaba. Thats the guy who decked out your brother a few years ago." He whispered. Thinking about this, Kakashi's smirk faded. The four stopped a few yards away from Naota and Ninamori, just in speaking distance.

"He is, huh?" Kakashi said, and he straightened out his coat. "Think you're so tough, huh? Just getting in a fight with my younger brother for no reason?" He said, walking forward slowly. "I didn't start it, he did." Naota said, remembering the fight slightly, then pushing the memory to the side. "That's not what my brother said. Do you know what you did to him?" Kakashi said, his voice getting a little louder.

_Just when I thought everyone forgot about that fight,_ Naota thought to himself. The fight happened a few years ago, at a famous kid's birthday party. Naota had been invited somehow, and he had nothing better to do, so he went to it. Kakashi and his brother were at the party. Kakashi's brother, Sari, had somehow been put in charge of fireworks. Every year, he collected the materials and built a few batches of his own foreworks (with Kakashi's help).

But this year, Sari pooled all of his resources into one big firework rocket. The only thing about this firework was that it was obviously too big to be safe. Naota and everyone else knew that if an explosive like that misfired, people _would_ get hurt. A lot of people tried to convince Sari to not fire off the behemoth of a firework, but Sari was set on it, for he had worked on building the thing for a whole year.

After a while, Naota tried to convince Sari too, but he was a little more convinced to change Sari's mind than the others. When Naota tried to talk to him, Sari just ignored him and kept working on the final preparations for the firing of the rocket. Naota had kept trying to talk to him until Sari was getting annoyed by the constant bothering. Sari is the type of person who gets really defensive when it comes to something that they have worked on for a while, so the two argued for a while until it escalated. Naota didn't bother to remember the details of the conflict.

"Yes, I am aware of what I did," Naota said, "But if I didn't do something, people were going to get hurt. You know that." Naota said, trying to keep his voice down. Behind him, Ninamori leaned into Naota. "He's just trying to provoke you," she whispered, "Don't let what he's saying get to you." Naota nodded. "I know." He said.

"My parents were pissed!" Kakashi said, walking closer to Naota. "Me and him got in a lot of trouble, when we didn't even do anything, and you got off without a hitch, because everyone believed you. Whats up with that, huh?" He said, still walking towards Naota slowly.

Naota knew that this guy had been told the wrong thing. "What happened, you got grounded for a month?" Naota said, letting a little smartness get past him. Kakashi scowled. "Better watch what you say, pretty boy. I'm not like my brother, I ain't going to let you get between our and that girl there's business." Kakashi pointed at Ninamori, who whimpered a little bit and ducked behind Naota a little more. Naota could have swore that she was shaking now. This is when Naota forgot the formalities.

"If you touch her again, you'll regret it." Naota said, his hands wanting to clench into fists, but he controlled himself. Kakashi stopped walking for a moment, as if he was surprised at Naota's words, but kept walking towards him. "And you think that you're going to stop me?" He said, laughing, but not smiling. "You ain't got no business with her, so let us have her before you do something _you'll_ regret."

"You heard what I said, dumbass." Naota said. Naota didn't notice it, but behind him, Ninamori gasped a little bit. _This isn't like Naota_, she thought, _I know he wants to defend me, but I haven't heard him swear in years!_ Kakashi's eyes widened a little bit. "What did you say, _Nandaba_?" He spat out Naota's name like it was a bad seed. Naota narrowed his eyes a little bit.

"Don't. Touch. Her." Naota said, his voice low. Kakashi narrowed his eyes as well. "I told you to be careful what you said, boy." He turned his head around, motioned for the other three to follow him. They were within about five feet from Naota now. Naota bent his knees a little bit, ready for anything.

Kakashi stopped right in front of Naota. He reached around and grabbed onto Ninamori's arm, which made her yelp in surprise. Naota quickly reacted, and pushed his forearms against Kakashi as hard as he could, sending Kakashi stumbling back a few feet into the other three supporting him. They caught him, and stood him back up. Kakashi walked back to Naota, much faster now, and pushed Naota back. Naota pushed Ninamori back a little bit to keep from running into her, but he only had to move his foot back a little bit to keep from falling over. When he was secure, Ninamori hurried back behind him.

Naota kept himself from pushing Kakashi again, but Kakashi had other ideas. He pushed Naota again, but Naota held his ground. Kakashi scowled again, and tried to push him again, but Naota blocked his hands by pushing them out of the way with his own hands.

By now, Kakashi had had enough. He curled his hand into a fist and brought it back behind him. Naota knew what he was going to do, and poised his hands in front of him in a blocking move he had learned in the short time that he had taken martial-arts classes a few years ago. Kakashi's fist flew towards him.

Naota psuhed Kakashi's fist out of its original path, then brought his other hand to Kakashi's shoulder and pushed him to the side. Kakashi fell over, landing on his side a few feet away from Naota. For a moment, everyone just stood there in silence.

Kakashi rolled over and quickly got back up. He rushed at Naota, his fist ready to fly. When he tried to throw another punch, Naota blocked it again, and sweeped his leg under Kakashi's legs, tripping him and making him fall onto his back. Kakashi just lay there for about two seconds before getting back up in front of Naota, but not making any moves.

"Alright, you asked for this..." Kakashi said, and quickly brought his fist up in an uppercut, too quickly for Naota to react. His fist slammed into Naota's stomach, making Naota exhale quickly as all the air left his lungs. Naota saw Kakashi's other fist closing in, and he had enough time to block.

He pushed Kakashi's hand out of the way again, and brought his own fist into Kakashi's cheek, making Kakashi's head snap backwards. He then pushed Kakashi away from him, but not too hard, just enough to give himself some space. He then turned his body a little bit, brought his foot up and kicked Kakashi in the chest hard enough to send Kakashi flying back a few feet. His three accomplices had to jump to the side in order to avoid being thrown to the ground.

Kakashi got to his knees and moved his hand to his face, wiping his mouth. Some blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth from a cut in his inner cheek. A look of pure rage overtook his face. Then he got up and reached into his trench coat's inner pocket.

**(Music start: Invisible Kid by Metallica, but it doesn't play all the way though, I'll tell you what to expect)**

Kakashi brought his hand out of his coat, a switchblade in his hand. He flipped it open, and pointed it at Naota. "Bad choice, pretty boy!" Kakashi yelled. His three friend's eyes widened, and they all backed up to a safe distance.

Naota's eyes widened, because he knew that this was serious now. He quickly reached a hand behind him and pushed Ninamori in the direction of one of the back paths that led back to the main roads of Mabase. "Run!" He yelled, and turned back to Kakashi. Ninamori ran to the path, looking back at Naota while she ran. Luckily, none of the four chased after her.

Kakashi rushed at Naota. Naota quickly jumped out of the way, turning around to face Kakashi. He had enough time to jump ot of the way as Kakashi rushed him again. This time, Kakashi was prepared for Naota to do this, for he held his switchblade out to the side a little bit in the direction Naota was dodging. The tip of the knife sliced a small cut in Naota's arm just above his elbow. Naota winced a little bit, but ignored the pain.

Kakashi slashed at Naota, but Naota ducked and avoided the knife. Kakashi started to rush Naota again, but he was too close to Naota to get any speed at first. Naota pushed the arm that was holding the knife out of the way, and as Kakashi started to gain speed, he ducked down and flipped Kakashi over his shoulder, Kakashi falling onto his back with a thud.

Before Kakashi could get up or do anything, Naota brought his foot down on Kakahsi's hand that was holding the knife. Kakashi winced, and Naota reached down and snatched the blade out of his hand before he could get his grip on it. He held the knife for a second, looking at it, before he closed the blade and dropped it next to Kakashi's head. Kakashi was too stunned to do anything.

**(Music stop. Stop the song at about where the vocals come in)**

"You have _no_ Idea what I've been through this week." he said, lowering his hands. "Don't come near me or Ninamori again." Naota said, then turned and started to walk away. Kakashi just lay there, while his three buddies just stood and watched Naota walk away. When Naota was walking down the same path he sent Ninamori down, the four looked down at their leader, now sprawled on the ground.

"Are you okay, Kakashi?" one of them asked. Kakashi didn't say anything, but just lay there, staring up into the blue sky. Nearby, hiding behind some of the heavy foilage, something watched. Watched Kakashi lay on the ground. Watched Naota walk away. And it thought. It's intentions weren't good, at least for one of the two high school boys. As quickly as it had appeared, it was gone, going back to the place it had come from.

* * *

><p><strong>(At the end of the path that Ninamori went through)<strong>

Ninamori stood at the end of the path that Naota had sent her down, waiting in hopes that Naota would soon be coming up the path. She was afraid that Kakashi had hurt Naota, and was still hurting him that very second. The thought of Naota being seriously injured or even dying for her almost made her start bawling.

_Should I go back for him?_ She thought to herself, biting her lip. Just as she was about to go back down the path, she saw a figure walking up the path. She quickly recognized it as Naota. She quickly ran to him and threw her arms aroung him, tears streaming down her face.

"Naota, what were you thinking! You could have been killed! He had a knife! A _knife_!" Ninamori cried into Naota's shoulder. Naota brought his hands up and embraced Ninamori, trying to comfort her. "Its alright, he only left a scratch. I'm okay. He won't be bothering you anymore." Naota said, patting Ninamori's back to comfort her. This didn't help much, and Ninamori kept crying into Naota's shoulder. While he patted Ninamori's back, he twisted his arm up to look at the cut Kakashi had given him. It wasn't too bad, there wasn't much blood. Hopefully his dad wouldn't notice it when he went home.

Naota noticed a bench nearby. He slowly walked Ninamori to it and helped her sit down, then sat down next to her. Ninamori sniffled, and raised her head up. She quickly pushed her head forward, closed her eyes, and kissed Naota on the lips. Hard. Naota's eyes widened, and the force of Ninamori's kiss made him lean backwards a little bit. They just sat like that for what seemed like forever, Ninamori's lips pressed against his.

When Ninamori brought her head back, separating them from the kiss, she opened her eyes. The two stared each other in the face. Naota smiled nervously. "W-Wow, Ninamori-" Naota wasn't able to finish his sentence, for Ninamori kissed him again. This kiss lasted for longer than the first one. Much longer. The kiss lasted for at least a minute, until they both had to catch their breath. Ninamori blushed a deep red, and buried her face in Naota's chest. Naota brought his hand up and placed it on the back of Ninamori's head, not sure what else to do.

"I've been wanting to do that for years," Ninamori said quietly, "But now seemed like the best time for it. I can't believe you would risk yourself for my safety... Why did you do it?" Ninamori asked. Naota smiled, and moved his hand under Ninamori's chin and tilted her head up so they were face-to-face.

"I couldn't just let them have you. I know how people like that can be, who knows what they would have done to you." Naota said, and Ninamori blushed a little bit and looked away for a moment, then looked back at him. "Besides," Naota said, smiling a little bit, "You're my best friend. It's my duty to help you."

Ninamori smiled too, and gave Naota a light kiss on the lips, then laid her head on his shoulder again. "Thank you. So much." Ninamori said. "It's no problem, Ninamori. I'm here when you need me."

They sat there for a few minutes, Ninamori snuggling into Naota, and Naota sitting there, not knowing what to do. He wasn't sure what to think of what Ninamori had just done, because kissing him was the last thing he expected her to do.

After a while, Ninamori decided to break the silence. "Hey, Naota?" Ninamori said, looking up at him. "Yeah?" Naota said, looking down at her. Ninamori laid her head on Naota's shoulder. "Why do you think that Mabase is such a boring place? I know that it really is boring a lot of the times, but ever since your sixteenth birthday, you've seemed to be able to cope more with the unoriginality of the place. What is with that?" Ninamori asked, absentmindedly staring at Naota's neck.

Naota didn't speak for a few seconds, trying to think of what to say. "I guess this place isn't as boring as it was four years ago. That was when I really went on about how boring this place was, wasn't it?" Naota said. Ninamori nodded. "Yeah, mostly then, but there was this one thing that you said when we were fourteen, when you were still sad about Haruko and Mamimi leaving. I think you know what I'm talking about." Ninamori said.

Naota did know. He remembered that day like it was yesterday.

* * *

><p><strong>(Flashback scene, the image fades completely to white, then to the following scene. Imagine the colors are of slightly higher contrast, and there is a very slight fade to white around the image.)<strong>

_It was almost sundown. A warm wind blew through Mabase, makjng Ninamori's hair move to the side. Where were they? The bridge, thats right. The one that Naota always hung out at. The one he had hung out with Mamimi at._

_Naota sat on the bridge's sidewalk nearby. His head was lowered, and he was deep in thought. Ninamori stood up, leaning against the railing near him. She faced towards the river and watched as the yellow-orange sun started to dissapear behind the horizon. The sky was a cool blue, but it was a light pink-orange mix near where the sun was. The sun's light reflected off the water brightly._

_They were both younger then. Naota still had his short hair, but was aready much taller than when Haruko came around. Ninamori was the same height as him, and her hair was longer than before._

_The breeze blew again, sending some of the litter scattered by Mabase citizens rolling past them. A page of newspaper fluttered down the sidewalk like a tumbleweed from an old western movie. A few empty soda cans tinkered past. An empty coffee cup rolled past Naota, and stopped at Ninamori's foot. Ninamori noticed, and looked down at the cup. She reached down and picked up, looking it over for a brief second, before tossing it into the garbage bin a few feet away._

_Naota was still thinking, not stirring until another stray page of newspaper rolled past and stopped on his leg, the corner fluttering from the wind. Naota looked up a little bit, looking over the paper without touching it._

_"Advertisements." Naota said, his voice as dull as a display katana. "Hmm?" Ninamori hummed, looking over to him. "Someone threw away their newspaper, and the advertisements landed on my leg. Looks like I'll be visiting the Vespa dealership." Naota said, tapping the advertisement for the nearby Vespa dealership before he pushed the newspaper off his leg, watching it tumble down the sidewalk with the rest of the trash._

_Ninamori looked back out to the river, watching the light waves bend the sunlight reflecting off it. "It's not like this everyday, we should enjoy it." Ninamori said, tapping her fingertip against the railing. She looked back over to Naota, who hadn't moved an inch. A car zoomed past on the bridge. Naota shook his head absentmindedly. Ninamori bit her lip, trying to find something to say Naota. She gave up, and looked back out to the river, feeling forlorn._

_A few seconds passed, until Naota decided that it wouldn't hurt to stand with Ninamori. He got up, walked over to the railing next to Ninamori, and crossed his arms on the rail, resting his chin on his arm. Ninamori looked to the side and noticed Naota there, smiled a little, then looked at the river once again._

_Ninamori was deep in thought also. She looked across the river, then at the buildings on either side. She saw the Medical Mechanica factory tilted on its side at the top of the large hill. Naota looked up at it too, and frowned a little bit. Ninamori sighed, and looked back to Naota._

_"You know, it's _her _fault that thing is still there." Ninamori said. Naota didn't have to ask who _her _was, for he already knew. He sighed, and looked in the opposite direction. "Until she came, you thought this place was horrible. Come to think of it, you thought it was horrible then too. You were always saying that nothing amazing happens here, and you were right. But when _she_ came everything changed. Except for you." Ninamori said._

_Naota said nothing back. Ninamori glared at him. A few seconds later, Naota spoke. "This place is an Octavarium." He said. "A what?" Ninamori said. The wind blew again. "An Octavarium. Everything ends where it begins. I realized that soon after Haruko left. One day would start out normal, nothing special. Then one of those horns would grow on my head. That would be the first out of the ordinary thing of the day. Then, later that same day, a robot would pop out of my head, and me or Haruko would destroy it. The horn would be gone, and the day would be done. Everything would be back to normal."_

_Ninamori didn't know what to say to this. In a way, Naota was right. But, in another way, he wasn't. There was more to this town than Naota wanted to believe, but Ninamori understood his reasoning. This town wasn't very good to him, and the appearance and leaving of Haruko had changed him. Probably for the rest of his life. She doubted that Haruko would come back, but she never told Naota that, for it might crush him._

_"There you have it. An Octavarium. And seeing how every day is one, something is telling me that all of our lives are going to be one. I mean, look at me for example. I was born in the old hospital on the other side of town. Chances are, I'm going to die there too. It happened to my mother, who says it won't happen to the rest of us?"_

_At this point, Ninamori had had enough. She grabbed Naota's wrist and pulled him closer to her with a strength she never knew she had. "Naota, you can't going around thinking of the world like that! The world isn't as bad of a place as you think it is, you know!" Ninamori said, louder than she wanted it to be. Naota didn't flinch at Ninamori's touch, or her loud voice. While she talked, Naota just stared at her._

_When Ninamori had calmed down a little bit, Naota spoke again. "I don't think that way about the whole world, just Mabase. This place will never change, I know better than that." He said, turning his head away from Ninamori. Ninamori frowned, and let go of Naota's wrist slowly. "I'm sorry." Ninamori said quietly. Naota looked back at her, smiled a little bit, and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. I know what I'm saying is a bit strange, but if you've been through what I've been through, you would understand better." Naota told her._

_The sun was almost below the horizon, only a small half-circle stood above the line. Naota backed away from the railing a little bit, standing straight up. Ninamori turned around to look at Naota. Naota looked around, then looked in the direction of uptown Mabase. He looked back at Ninamori, and smiled a little bit._

_"We should probably be getting home now, our parent's won't be happy with us if we stay out for much longer." Naota said. Ninamori nodded, and pushed herself off the railing, getting one last glance at the river. They both started walking down the sidewalk, side-by-side._

* * *

><p>When Naota was done recalling the memory, he saw that more time had passed than he thought. Judging from the sun's position in the sky, it was around six o' clock. Ninamori still sat next to him, her head laying on his shoulder. He smiled, and moved one of his hands up, lifting Ninamori's chin up. Ninamori had been thinking too, but she came back to reality when she felt Naota tilting her head up. Their eyes met, and they both smiled.<p>

"We should probably be getting home now, our parent's won't be happy with us if we stay out for much longer." Naota said, remembering what he had said in his memory. Ninamori smiled and giggled a little bit. "You remembered..." she said quietly, still smiling. "Yep." Naota replied, smiling back at her.

"No, seriously, our parents usually get worried when we don't come home after three hours. And I have to try and get past my dad without him seeing this cut." Naota said, raising up his arm and pointing at the cut he had got in his fight with Kasashi. Ninamori's smile faded as she saw the cut, then she looked back at Naota.

"Are you going to be okay, Naota?" Ninamori asked, looking concerned. Naota smiled at her. "Yeah, its nothing. I just need to get it covered up or something." Naota replied. Ninamori kept her gaze on him, but her worry seemed to dampen a little bit. She slowly lifted herself up off the bench, stretched out her arms, then looked back down at Naota. Naota got up also.

"C'mon, I'll walk with you." Ninamori said, smiling a little bit. Naota smiled back, and they both started to walk down the sidewalk towards their neighborhoods.

* * *

><p><strong>(Meanwhile)<strong>

Kasashi walked alone down one of the sidewalks in downtown Mabase, in the industrial part of town. A bunch of old factories, stores, and a few electricity grid buildings stood there. He looked down at the sidewalk while he walked. He kept thinking about earlier today, when he fought that Naota kid. Or at least tried to.

His hands clenched into fists. _He better not show his face again_, _or I'll kill him, _he thought to himself. He couldn't believe that he had been beaten by Naota. He had never lost a fight, fair fight or not, and he wasn't planning on letting Naota forget why people feared him.

As he was passing by one of the alleyways between an old store and an unused plastic cup factory, he saw someone walking towards him on the same sidewalk as him further up ahead. The person raised a hand and made a small wave at Kakashi. Kakashi tilted his head to the side a little bit, and stopped walking.

The person motioned for Kakashi to come to him. Kakashi didn't move. The person started walking towards him again, and Kakashi tensed up a little bit. What did this person want with him? As the person got closer, Kakashi could see that he was male. He was dressed in a formal suit-like outfit, dark blue in color. He stopped a few feet away from Kakashi, he raised one of his hands up.

"Relax, I just want to talk, Kakashi." He said, lowering his hand. Kakashi slowly untensed a little. "What do you want? And how do you know my name?" Kakashi asked seriously. The man narrowed his eyes and smiled grimly. "Oh, I don't know. Lucky guess." He said, his smile not fading. Kakashi backed away from the man a little bit, and his hand slowly crept into his pocket that contained his switchblade.

The man noticed Kakashi reaching into his pocket, and smirked. "Oh, please. No need for distrust here." He said, almost too reassuring for Kakashi to believe. "What do you want, I have places to be!" Kakashi said.

"I just want to discuss a little matter of business with you," The man said, "About Naota Nandaba." Kakashi's eyes widened for a moment. "You're with him, aren't you? On his side?" He asked, and he quickly pulled his knife out, flipping it open. The man looked down at Kakashi's blade, and laughed. "No, quite the opposite, in fact. No violence is needed here." He said. Kakashi relaxed a bit, lowering the knife, but keeping it in his hand. "Alright, start talking." Kakashi said.

The man moved his hands behind his back, and leaned forward a little bit. "I understand you have a little bone to pick with him? Hmm?" He said. "Hell yes," Kakashi said, "That bastard disgraced my brother, then me!" The man nodded. "I see. Nandaba had been causing some problems for me as well. I heard about the little tussle you two got into earlier today, so I thought you would make a good asset, since both of our intentions are practically the same."

Kakashi tilted his head to the side a little bit. "What are you saying?" He asked. For the first time in the conversation, the smile on the man's face faded, and he narrowed his eyes a little bit. "I want you to get rid of Naota Nandaba. _Permanently_." He said, a tone of seriousness in his voice.

Kakashi's eyes widened for a moment. He knew that Naota was a problem, but was this man crazy? Kakashi knew that he had a bone to pick with Naota, but it wasn't _that_ big of a bone. He thought for a moment, considering the opposition and the odds. Naota _was_ just trying to defend that girl, anyway.

_No_, Kakashi thought, _It's not just the girl. My brother got disgraced because of him, and its my job to protect my family._ Kakashi looked back at the man and nodded. "I'm in. What do you need me to do?"

The man's smile reappeared. "I'm glad you made the right choice. First off, I need to get you aquainted with my plan. Please follow me, and I'll take you to my 'base of operations'." He said, and he turned around and started walking down the sidewalk. Kakashi looked around for a moment, then followed the man. The road they were on led to Mabase's main road, which led straight up to the Medical Mechanica factory.

/FLCL\

**(The Nandaba household, in the living room.)**

Naota sat on the couch in the living room, repeatedly tossing a baseball up into the air, catching it, then repeating the process. The TV was on, but the sound was muted. He could hear Canti shuffling around upstairs, taking care of chores around the house. He had gotten home not too long ago; he had escorted Ninamori home to make sure that she wouldn't get jumped by Kakashi or his friends again, then headed home himself. Naota had bandaged the cut he had gotten from the fight with Kakashi, and he wore a long-sleeve shirt to cover it up. So far, no-one had noticed it.

Mamimi was still at the house. She was still staying with them, for the people who she said were looking for her were still trying to find her. Naota suspected that her parents were the ones looking for her. He had never met Mamimi's parents, so he couldn't be sure who to look out for.

Suddenly, Mamimi herself walked into the room. She was holding her camera in her hands, and she was going around the room taking pictures of everything. She aimed the camera at the shelf above Naota holding a few vases on it, then _click_, then the camera's bright light flashed. She turned the camera to the small coffee table in front of Naota, then _click_, then the flash. Next, she aimed the camera at Naota, then _click_, then the flash. Naota raised his free hand in front of his face and squinted a little bit from the flash.

"What are you doing?" Naota asked, lowering his hand from his face. Mamimi took a picture of the TV, then turned to look at Naota. "I'm practicing my photography. I guess you could call me a workoholic." She said, then she turned around and walked towards the stairs. Right before Mamimi got to the stairs, Haruko came down the stairs. When Haruko got tot he bottom step, Mamimi took a picture of her too, then she hurried upstairs.

Haruko walked to the couch and sat next to Naota. "What is she up to?" Haruko asked, pointing her thumb at the stairs, but indicating Mamimi. "Photography, she says she is a workoholic." Naota said. "Mhm..." Haruko hummed, then she plucked the remote for the TV off the table, unmuted the show, then kept watching it.

A few seconds later, Naota's dad burst into the room. In his hand was a dark tinted bottle, with a label that Naota couldn't read from his spot on the couch. His father seemed pretty excited. Kamon quickly walked past them and into the kitchen.

"Father, the wine came in the mail today!" Kamon called out from the kitchen. The moment Kamon finished his sentence, Naota's grandfather raced down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Well, it's about _time_ they sent it!" Shigekuni said. A few seconds later, Mamimi came down the stairs and poked her head into the kitchen to see what the fuss was about. As soon as she saw the bottle of wine, her face brightened, and she hurried into the kitchen as well.

"Is that what I think it is?" Mamimi asked, standing next to Shigekuni. Kamon beamed at Mamimi, and lifted the bottle up for the trio to see. "Yes it is!" Kamon said. The kitchen's light reflected off the glass bottle. "A bottle of Gesticci wine, straight from Italy and aged to perfection!" He said, reaching around the counter to try and find his cork opener.

Soon, Haruko went into the kitchen as well. She had never heard of the wine before, but judging from everyone's reactions, it seemed good. Naota didn't know why it was such a big deal, but he eventually went into the kitchen too. Shortly after Naota went into the kitchen, Kamon found the cork opener, and was busy taking the cork off the bottle of wine. Shigekuni was pawing through the cupboards, looking for their old wine glasses. Mamimi never took her eyes off the bottle, while Haruko and Naota stood side by side, watching the whole thing go on.

When the bottle was open and Shigekuni had the wine glasses arranged neatly across the counter, Kamon started pouring the contents of the bottle into the glasses, an equal amount for each one. Once all the glasses were filled, he handed one to everyone, including Haruko and Naota, He took his own glass off the counter and raised it up.

"I have waited so long for this wine to come, I thought they would never send it!" Kamon said. Mamimi looked at her glass, then looked up at Kamon. "I went to Italy during a trip I was going on for my photography job, and I tried some of this wine while I was there. It is perfect!" Mamimi said, raising her glass up to her lips and taking a sip of the wine. Judging from Mamimi's next facial expression, it was the best thing she had ever tasted.

Everyone started drinking their wine, except for Haruko and Naota. Haruko stood there and swirled the contents of her glass around, while Naota watched the three adults drink their wine. Haruko looked over at Naota, and lifted her glass up a little bit. "Are you going to drink that?" Haruko asked, tilting her glass towards Naota's slightly. Naota looked down at his glass and gazed into the dark liquid in it. He could see his dim reflection in the liquid.

Naota shrugged, then brought the glass up to his lips and took a sip of the wine. It tasted pretty good, so he kept taking little sips of it. Haruko drank hers as well. Soon, the adults were done with their first glasses of wine, and they were pouring their second glasses.

This went on for a few more minutes, before Kamon took the bottle of wine off the counter, put the cork back on it, opened a nearby cabinet which contained various other bottles of wine, and put the bottle in with the rest of the bottles. Kamon turned back to everyone.

"We can't drink all of it tonight, we have to save some for a special occasion!" Kamon said. Shigekuni and Mamimi nodded, then they walked out of the kitchen, setting their empty wine glasses in the sink. Kamon turned to walk out of the kitchen as well, but caught sight of Haruko and Naota standing nearby. He glanced at their wine glasses.

"So, what do you think of that wine?" Kamon asked. Haruko glanced down at her glass, then back up at Kamon. "It was pretty good, where did you get it?" Haruko asked. Kamon beamed at Haruko. "I ordered it straight from Gesticci a few months ago. They told me that the bottle was aged enought already, but I guess they had to let it set for a little longer."

Kamon walked out of the kitchen. Haruko and Naota took the last few sips of their wine, then set their glasses in the sink. Haruko went back to the couch, while Naota walked throught the door to the bakery, then outside.

It was almost dark. The sun was already beneath the horizon, and the last few rays of light were coming through. The continuous drone of the always busy downtown Mabase had died down, since mostly everyone had gone home for the night. The only thing Naota could really hear was the approaching sound of a motorcycle engine.

Naota looked down the road and saw a single headlight coming in his direction down the road. As it got closer, he thought he recognized the sound of it. It sounded like Ivan's motorcycle, but he couldn't be sure. A few seconds later, the driver of the motorcycle stopped at the curb on the other side of the street, dismounted the vehicle, and fast-walked towards Naota.

As the figure drew closer, Naota recognized him as Ivan. He had no guitar strapped to his back, but NAota saw Ivan's gold Apocalypse Special strapped to Ivan's motorcycle. He wore simply jeans, a dark brown shirt, and a brown leather jacket over it. Naota smiled, and raised his hand to wave. Ivan stopped right in front of Naota, smiled also, and clapped Naota on the shoulder.

"It is good to see you, Naota. Is Haruko here?" Ivan asked, gazing at the front door of the Nandaba house. "She wouldn't be anywhere else. What do you need her for?" Naota replied, turning around and starting to walk to the door. Ivan followed close behind. "I need to talk to you two. Something happened involving Medical Mechanica, and I thought that you guys needed to hear it." Ivan said, his tone slightly more serious.

They both hurried inside, being greeted immediately by the flash of Mamimi's camera. They both ignored the flash and walked past Mamimi, much to her dismay, and kept walking. Haruko saw them walking and immediately knew that she had to follow, and got up off the couch and walked behind Ivan.

The three walked up the stairs and went to Naota's room. They walked inside, then Naota closed the door behind them to prevent anyone from hearing their conversation. Naota sat down at the edge of the bed, Haruko plopped down in Naota's desk's chair and rolled it over to the bed so she was sitting next to Naota, and Ivan stood. Ivan leaned against the wall and took in a deep breath, then exhaled.

"Medical Mechanica is up to something, and it isn't good." Ivan began. "Now, do not be alarmed at this, but I was inside the Medical Mechanica factory earlier today." Ivan said. At this, both Naota's and Haruko's eyes widened. "Why?" Naota asked. Ivan looked around the room for a moment. "Have you noticed that they haven't been trying to attack us at all lately? Well, I thought that it was way too suspicious to be left alone, so I decided to go spy around inside the factory."

* * *

><p><strong>(Flashback scene. This scene is focused on Ivan. The scene starts with Ivan crawling through an air vent in the Medical Mechanica factory.)<strong>

_I don't even know why I'm doing this,_ Ivan thought to himself as he lay prone in an extremely cramped air vent. He wore the same attire that he would visit Naota in later, except the leather jacket was replaced with a black sweater to help conceal Ivan if the need arose. On his belt was a gun holster that contained a .44 Revolver with a shortened barrel. He didn't want to bring the firearm, but he knew that he needed a weapon in case a violent situation arose, and a guitar wouldn't work this time.

He continued to crawl down the air vent until he got to a grating on the bottom of the vent. Ivan knew that the grating was probably conntected with bolts, but he tried to remove it anyway. He got as firm of a grip as he could on the shutter-like openings of the grating, and pushed forward as hard as he could. Surprisingly, the cover popped off of its supports easily, and Ivan very gently laid it down outside the vent to prevent making noise. He crawled out of the vent opening, quickly standing up and getting a view of the room he was in.

He was in a small, dark, and empty room with a good number of strange computer towers standing up in a grid formation throughout the room. All of them had several constantly blinking lights on them, color varying with each button. Ivan ignored these tiny lights and hurried towards the other side of the room, where a very strange looking door stood in the wall. It was made conpletely of metal, and there was a small keypad at elbow level on the right side of the door. The keypad consisted of several letters that Ivan had never seen before.

The buttons glowed a bright green, and a small green button on it blinked. Ivan cautiously pressed the small green button, and the door slowly slid to the side, revealing the largest hallway that Ivan had ever seen. There was no illumination whatsoever throughout the entire hallway, except for light coming from the windows of the many rooms that dotted either side of the walls.

Ivan slowly walked out of the room, and the door automatically slid shut when he got clear of it. He continued to walk down the huge hallway, marveling at how high the ceiling was. He walked for several minutes, until he heard talking. He traced the talking to a certain room with a large, open door. He cautiously peeked through the open door.

There were a dozen or more people wearing white lab coats, most of them standing at small computer terminals and punching in commands to the computer. At the center of the room was a table, being held up by a single large bar, surrounded by several different machines. On the table lay a person, but Ivan couldn't identify him. Near the table, a tall individual wearing a blue uniform-like outfit spoke to one of the scientists.

Suddenly, the table rose up a few feet, then tilted forward until it was completely vertical. The person laying on the table wore no shirt, just clothed in his jeans. He was attached to the table by his ankles and wrists by shackle-like supports that were built into the table. Across his waist was another support that helped him stay attached to the table.

The tall uniform-clad man turned away from the scientist and turned towards the table, looking at the person on it. "Now we can begin, Kakashi." The man said. Kakashi pulled at one of his wrist supports. "What are all of these shackles for?" he said. Almost immediately after he said that, the same scientist that the man had been talking to stepped forward. "We need you to be completely still during the procedure." The man said in what sounded like a German accent.

Kakashi looked around, gazing at the massive amounts of machinery and computers in the room, then he looked back down at the tall man and the scientist. "Um, you haven't really told me exactly what you are going to do to me yet. Could you let me in on it?" Kakashi asked. The man looked at the scientist, who looked back at him with a confused look. The man nodded at the scientist, then turned back to Kakashi. The scientist walked forward a few steps.

"Since you agreed to be part of our operation," the scientist said, " we have decided to make you our main seek-and-destroy operative. We are going to make improvements to your physical and mental being. Let me explain. We are going to make you stronger and faster than you ever thought possible. You are going to have extremely fast reflexes; so fast, that it will just look like fast-motion to us. You will be equipped with a prototype armor that we have been designing for many years. Think of it as a... test run for the final model."

"In other words," the scientist said, "we are going to turn you into a super-soldier." Kakashi nodded. "I'm ready." he said. The scientist smiled. "Excellent! Now, you may continue." the scientist said, nodding to the tall man, then scurrying off towards a small group of other scientists. The man looked over at a different group of scientists, who nodded at him, then resumed their work. Kakashi looked back at Kakashi and smiled.

"Now, this procedure has been done many times, so you don't have to worry about anything going wrong, but the procedure does get painful in some of the more important parts of it, so you will have to bear with us until those parts are done." the man said. Kakashi nodded again, then looked over at a third group of scientists who were approaching the table. Two of them went right up to the table, while the others stood near the tall man.

The first scientist pulled out a small syringe with a clear liquid contained in it. "This is a primer for the compounds we will be using to improve your muscle structure." he said, then he pushed the needle into Kakashi's arm, injecting the liquid. After the syringe was emptied, Kakashi stretched his arm a little bit.

The second scientist also had a syringe, but it's contents were a pale yellow. "This is the primer for the bone structure improvement. I have to inject this right into your bones, so it is going to be painful. You may want to brace yourself." he said. Kakashi bit his lip a little, and nodded. The scientist pushed the needle into Kakashi's other arm, but didn't stop immediately like the other scientist did. He continued to push, until the needle encountered a block, the bone in Kakashi's arm. He just kept pushing, until the needle pushed through the tough shell of the bone. Kakashi winced and groaned in pain.

Ivan had had enough. He stepped backward a few steps, then turned around and hurried back to the room from where he had came from. He quickly crawled back into the air vent and retraced his path through the air vent system back to the place where he entered outside. He had to get to Naota and tell him about this quickly.

* * *

><p><strong>(Flashback finish)<strong>

"That is what I gathered." Ivan finished. Naota looked over at Haruko, who had a look of worry over her face. She bit her lip, then looked over at Naota. "Do you know who it was they were doing this to?" Naota asked, looking back at Ivan. Ivan nodded. "I heard the one man call him Kakashi." At this, Naota almost blacked out.

"_Kakashi?_" Naota said, extremely worried. Haruko and Ivan looked at him, confused. "What is wrong, Naota? Is Kakashi bad news?" Haruko asked. Naota nodded quickly. "Earlier today, I protected Ninamori from him and a couple of his friends. He has a score to settle with me, and now he has a way to settle it." Naota explained.

Haruko looked over at the various guitars propped up in the corner of the room, then looked back at Ivan. "We can almost certainly expect a fight, and something tells me that it is going to be sooner than we think." Naota said. Haruko and Ivan both nodded. "I'm going to stay here tonight. If Kakashi strikes tomorrow, which I think he will, you will need all the help you can get." Ivan said. Haruko and Naota nodded at Ivan, then looked at each other.

Naota and Haruko looked at each other with questioning eyes. Naota slowly moved his hand up and set it on Haruko's, which was resting on the arm of the chair. Haruko smiled at him. Naota smiled back.

"We have a fight ahead of us, Haruko." Naota said quietly.

* * *

><p><strong>(Scene change. Inside the Medical Mechanica factory, in the hallway where Ivan spied on Kakashi's super-soldier augmentation.)<strong>

The hall was dark, except for the lights coming from the other rooms. Two men stood in front of the large door to the main lab, where Kakashi had successfully been augmented into a super-soldier. The tall man in the blue uniform was standing up straight with his hands behind his back. The main scientist stood next to him, a look of success on his face.

"The procedure was successful, sir. Kakashi had been transformed into our greatest soldier yet." the scientist said. The uniform-clad man smiled at him, and held out his hand. The two shook hands. "Excellent work. Can I see him?" the man asked. "Of course." the scientist said, and he punched a code into the small keypad on the door. The door slid open, and the two walked inside, the door sliding shut behind them. The room was dark except for a single light shining down in the center of the room.

"Kakashi, come out and show the Commander the success of the operation. He is dying to see the great soldier you have become." the scientist said. At first, nothing happened. Then, there were footsteps. Slowly, a figure came out of the darkness and into the single light shining on the floor.

The augmentations on Kakashi's muscles and bones had made him grow to at least seven feet tall. He wore no shirt, and the large muscles on his arms and torso were extremely visible. His hands were balled into fists. He looked like he was ready to strangle the closest person to him, but he showed great restraint. He continued walking until he was right in front of the tall man. Kakashi towered over both of the Medical Mechanica officials. The scientist backed up a step, while the man stood still and looked up at Kakashi.

"Amazing..." the scientist said quietly. "Indeed he is. How are you feeling, Kakashi?" the man asked. A smirk appeared on Kakashi's face. "Like a new man." Kakashi said. His voice had changed too, and now sounded a bit deeper. The man smirked as well. "Good to hear. I hope you are ready for your first assignment."

Kakashi nodded. "Your first missin involves Naota Nandaba, but not directly. You will be able to take care of him later. But for now, you are to aim for someone who is very close to him. Her name is Haruko Haruhara. She has been a great threat to our operations for many years, so you are the one who is to take care of her. But..." the man paused for a moment.

"I want you to make her suffer in every way possible. Show her no mercy. Make her beg for you to spare her, then kill her." the man said, malice in his voice. Kakashi nodded. "I'll make her regret ever being born." Kakashi said. The man smirked again. "Excellent." he said, then he turned to the scientist, who quickly regained himself from being in the presence of the new and improved Kakashi.

"Show him his armor. I'm sure he will love it." the man said. The scientist quickly saluted him, then looked up at kakashi, who looked back down at him. "Please follow me, Kakashi." the scientist said, trying not to sound afraid of Kakashi. He started towards the door, and Kakashi followed him. The man turned around and watched the two leave, a smirk on his face.

_There is no escaping this time, Haruhara._

/End Credits\

* * *

><p>Haruko's Voice: Well, it looks like we can expect a fight in the future, but what is going to happen? Is Kakashi really as dangerous as we think? Are we going to be able to defend ourselves from this new threat? Find out soon! Next, on FLCL Second: Fortis Anima!<p>

* * *

><p><em>Finally, this chapter is done! You all have no idea how long it took me to think this up, school was making me busy and I was working on a bunch of other things, but now that I'm back in gear, you can expect more chapters soon.<em>

_If you see any spelling errors, please tell me. I've been working on this chapter for an extremely long time, and I can't bother looking through this entire chapter for errors right now._

_Please review, and I'll see you in the next chapter._

_G-man_


	9. UPDATE (May be removed at some point)

Hey, guys. I just wanted to post a quick update, and I'm probably gonna take it down when the next chapter is released

Alright, first off. I changed my profile name to The Raven Nyx. Second, I know I've been lazy about updating this, but its coming soon. Don't give up on me yet- I've got one nearly ready!

-Nyx


	10. Fortis Anima

_I am finally back, everyone! The main reason I took a long time on this chapter is because my computer has a habit of turning itself off, and if I'm working on FLCL: Second when it happens, it doesn't save what I wrote. I went through draft after draft of this chapter, and I finally got it when I wrote this one. I hope you like it, because I spent a really long time on it!_

_I've said this before, and I'll say it again for the umpteenth time: Please give me ideas for later chapters! I'm not going to finish this story anytime soon from the looks of it, and I'm going to need all the help I can get, so please give me some ideas so I can fill in the blanks and get through it a little faster, so I can show you the things _I_ have planned for the story in the near future._

_Hope you like this chapter._

Naota's body may have slept soundly that night, but his mind ran the entire time he slept. The dreams he encountered were like nothing he could have ever imagined on his own.

The first dream he had felt like it wasn't in his perspective. Someone else's perspective? Perhaps. The room was dark and empty, except for a rectangular table in the middle of the room and three indiscernable figures standing on either sides of the table. One of the figures raised its hand over the table, and a light winked into existence and bathed the room in a cold blue. The light was coming from the table; There was what looked like a holographic projection of an unidentifiable environment cast over the table. Judging from the elevations of the projection, it was an area with a lot of hills.

The second figure turned towards the third one. It spoke something that couldn't be heard, then turned towards the first figure. "Have we determined where they are going to attack next?" The figure said, his voice low, as if he didn't want anyone to hear him. The first figure was silent for a moment. "They're going to attack _everywhere_ next," it said, the voice obviously female. "We don't have any time left. Either we execute Protocol 17, or we stay and die fighting."

"Protocol 17?" The third figure asked, his voice serious. "The enemy isn't going to stop, What other choice do we have?" The second figure said. The two looked back to the first figure, who examined the holographic map without speaking. He flicked his wrist, the map zooming out to a view of an entire planet. A few inches off the planet, a few large red dots blinked into existence, followed by an uncountable number of smaller ones.

"They are already here..." The leader said in a low voice. Without raising his head, he spoke. "It's our only choice. Relay the standard XO-17 commands to all global and local authority forces. We're getting everyone out of here."

Suddenly, everything went black, and the scene changed once again. This time, Naota was in his own perspective, as far as he could tell. He was standing in the middle of what he thought was a road, and there were strange-looking buildings on either side of the road. They were black, and had dark windows Above him, the sky was dark, but had a slight orange tint. He could see the stars.

Naota was very surprised when he found that he had total control over his 'Dream Body'. He walked forward, looking at the strange buildings. They were all one or two stories high, with strange windows that looked like they were made of tinted glass. There was no light coming from any of the buildings, except for one at the end of the street. He walked to it, his curiosity getting the best of him. When he got to the building, he glanced into the window next to the door.

He saw four people, who looked as human as anyone else he knew, except for their hair and eye colors. There was a man with sage-colored eyes and light blue hair. A woman sat next to him, who had yellow eyes and light pink hair. She was holding a baby in her arms, who had the same features of its father. The mother looked like Haruko, only a few years older, probably somewhere in her late 20's or early 30's. The other being was a small child. She had the features of her mother. She looked no older than eight or nine.

**(Music start: Solitude by Joe Satriani. I'll give you a little forewarning, you might be hearing a lot of Joe's music in the future.)**

He didn't know why, but Naota instantly knew that the girl could be no-one other than Haruko. He could only assume that the baby was her sibling, and the adults were their parents. Visions of Haruko as a child? This was strange.

The two adults sat talking on a couch-like peice of furniture, while Haruko sat on the floor, playing with strange block-like objects with facets edged into them. The two parents watched her, smiling, the mother cradling her baby.

Suddenly, the dream shifted, and the four individuals faded out of existence. Naota was at the same place as before, looking into the house's window, but the inside fo the house looked different. The funiture had been moved to different places, and there were several new furniture peices there.

Someone walked into the room from a passageway Naota couldn't see. It was Haruko, but older than before. She looked slightly younger than Naota was now, around fourteen or fifteen. In her hands, she carried a very familiar object: Her light-blue Rickenbacker 3001. She carried the guitar like a newborn child, cradling it in her arms. She walked into the middle of the room. A few seconds later, the green-haired girl walked into the room from the same direction Haruko had. She had grown, she now looked five or six.

Haruko turned around and looked down at her little sister. She leaned her guitar against the wall next to her, then she got on her knees so she could get at eye-level with her tiny sibling. She smiled warmly, then embraced the smaller girl.

The scene changed again. He could hear dry grass shifting in a soft breeze below his feet, and he saw that he was standing at the top of a hill. He looked down and saw that he was holding Haruko's guitar in his hands. Tiny specks of light that reminded Naota of fireflies rose out of the ground and into the sky. He looked back up at the horizon, and almost dropped the guitar when he saw two planets just above the horizon, which was slightly covered by a taller hill. One planet was smaller than the other, and was almost floating right in front of the larger one. Suddenly, a loud alarm-like sound pierced the air, and everything faded into darkness.

**(Music end)**

* * *

><p>Naota sat up, feeling like he just got an electrical shock. He was gasping for air and sweating, but he felt like he was freezing. He looked beside him and saw Haruko sitting up next to him, a concerned look in her golden yellow eyes.<p>

"Naota, are you okay?" Haruko asked, resting her hand on his shoulder. Seeing Haruko and hearing her voice suddenly made Naota feel better. Naota leaned his head foreward and rested his head on Haruko's shoulder. "Y-Yeah..." Naota said, shivering, "I'm fine... Just a weird dream, thats all..."

Haruko pulled Naota close, holding his head to her shoulder with one hand. "Tell me about it." Haruko said.

Naota lifted his head up and recounted his dreams with Haruko, explaining every little detail. But once Naota started talking about seeing what he thought was her and her family, Haruko's concerned look turned into a confused, sad look.

"You were dreaming about my homeworld..." Haruko whispered. Naota suddenly felt very confused. How could he dream about Haruko's homeworld when he didn't even know what it was? He was well aware of Haruko's alien origins, but a dream about her homeworld and family?

"Your homeworld?" Naota asked. Haruko nodded. "You saw me and my family when I was young... Then you saw me when my sister gave me my Rickenbacker on my birthday..." she said quietly. She closed her eyes for a moment, as if to keep herself from crying.

"My sister... Reina..." Haruko whispered, then she hugged Naota close, burying her face in his shoulder. Naota never knew that Haruko had a sister. "Why didn't you ever tell me that you had a sister?" Naota asked. "I was always trying to forget about what happened to her..." Haruko replied. Naota snaked an arm behind Haruko, keeping her held close to him. "What happened?" Naota asked. Haruko was silent for a moment.

"Medical Mechanica's entire military fleet attacked our planet..." Haruko began, "And the leaders of our planet's military declared a full global state of emergency and initiated Protocol 17, which is a mass evacuation of the entire planet. While our family was being boarded onto a shuttle to a planet far out of our system, the shuttle port was attacked... Everyone was scattering, and we were trying to stay together."

"I was holding onto Reina to keep her from getting lost in the crowd. While we were boarding the shuttle, a Medical Mechanica soldier grabbed Reina by her wrist and pulled her right out of my arms..." Haruko stopped talking for a moment. "She was so small, she had no chance of defending herself, and the shuttle's doors closed before I could reach out and try to pull her back to me..."

"I can still remember hearing her screaming... Begging them to let her go... Crying for help, crying for _me_..." Haruko said, and she sniffled once. Naota kept Haruko held close to him. "Before I came to Earth for the first time, I tried to find her for years, but I had no luck... I don't know what they might have done with her..."

Haruko started crying at that moment. Naota didn't know what to say. Nobody should have to go through having their sibling just _taken away_ from them. He tilted her head up so she was looking at him, then he wiped away Haruko's tears.

"I'm sure you'll find her. Even if you have to leave Earth again." Naota said. Haruko sniffled, and shook her head. "I can't leave you again, Naota... I broke your heart once before, and I won't do it again..." She said.

They sat like that for a while, Naota comforting Haruko as much as he could, until they heard a knock on their door. "Come in." Naota said, not looking away from Haruko. The door opened, and Ivan walked in. He had been awake all night, sitting on the balcony and watching for any signs of danger. He didn't look tired at all, considering he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep that night.

"Anything so far, Ivan?" Naota said, not looking at the man. "Not yet," Ivan said, "Medical Mechanica has been silent all day. They usually release that steam once or twice every day at a certain hour, but they didn't even do _that_."

Naota got up out of his bed and went over to the laptop sitting on his desk, opening it. He looked at the time. Twelve o' clock. He had been sleeping for longer than he thought. "Is everyone downstairs?" Naota asked.

"Your father went for an interview today, your grandfather is still asleep, and Mamimi went to the store to see if she could get some more memory for her camera, or something like that." Ivan said.

"And Canti?" Haruko questioned. Ivan shrugged. "I haven't seen the robot for a while."

Naota sat down in his desk's chair. _We know they are going to do something_, _but when?_

* * *

><p><strong>(At Medical Mechanica)<strong>

"Your suit is a very sleek, agile peice of work that combines safety, speed, and strength all into one." A short man in a white coat explained. Kakashi stood next to the scientsist. Kakashi, now standing at least seven feet tall, towered over the other short man. The two stood next to a tall black box.

_I've been listening to this dwarf babble for hours, can't he just cut to the chase,_ Kakashi thought to himself. As if on cue, the scientist pulled a small rectangular box out of his coat, and pushed a small button on it. Suddenly, a small white line split down the middle of the tall box next to them. The new two halves of the box slowly slid away from each other, revealing what they had been containing. Kakashi was surprised at what he saw.

_So, the future really _is_ near,_ he thought.

* * *

><p><strong>(Back at the Nandaba household)<strong>

Naota, Ivan, and Haruko sat in the kitchen, eating the lunch Haruko had cooked up for them. Well, breakfast, in Naota's case. Mild curry and ramen. Nobody complained, Haruko made both of the dishes like a pro.

The three agreed now that everyone was awake, they should take shifts in watching the Medical Mechanica factory for anything suspicious. Ivan and Naota sat at the kitchen table for a while, silent. Ivan was the first one to break the silence.

"When I came into your room, it looked like you were comforting Haruko. Was something wrong?" Ivan asked. Haruko lowered her head for a moment. She didn't want to think about what she had told Naota earlier. The look that came over Haruko's face was enought to tell Ivan that it was a sensitive subject, and he drew the three away from it by asking if there was any more food.

After a while, Naota got up and walked to the stairs, leaving Ivan and Haruko to finish their food. He closed the door behind him, then leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes, trying to relax and take in the events of the last few days.

He opened his eyes, and his vision wandered to the Beast V NT guitar he had gotten on the day that he had battled Amarao and his men after pulling it out of his head. Ever since then, Haruko had refered to the day as "The day Naota kicked federal ass".

Naota had always thought that there was something weird about that guitar. Whenever he held it, he had the sudden urge to play it, when he didn't even know how to play it. He was somehow able to play good with the instrument, even though he knew nothing about playing a normal guitar, only bass guitar.

He reached over and picked up the guitar. The instrument felt cool, then it seemed to instantly warm at his touch. He examined the insturment closely, turning it over and looking at the back of the body, up the neck all the way to the top. The guitar's design was flawless, such is the perfection of N.O. born guitars.

Suddenly, he felt the urge to play the instrument again. He didn't know where it came from or why, but it just... _came_. Naota didn't understand it. He resisted the urge and put the guitar down, and looked around the room once before opening the door and walking out of his room. As soon as he walked out of his room, he bumped into Haruko. They both laughed at the folly, and both leaned against the wall next to the door.

"I guess it is Ivan's turn again, huh?" Naota asked. Haruko nodded. She edged a little closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. Naota smiled. Despite the sensitivity of the morning's subjects, they had both gotten better.

"Want to watch some TV?" Naota asked suddenly. He didn't know why he picked the TV, but he wanted to try to take Haruko's mind off of what they had talked about earlier. Haruko's smile widened a little, and she giggled a bit. "Sure," she said, laying her forehead against his chest and hugging him.

Naota's smile widened a little. They both walked down the hall and went down the stairs together, walking into the living room and sitting on the couch next to each other. For a minute they just sat there holding onto each other and grinning, before Naota began to look around for the TV remote. It wasn't on the table or anywhere in the living room that he could tell. "I'm gonna check the kitchen for it, I'll be right back." Naota told Haruko. Haruko smiled at him and let him get up.

As Naota was walking to the kitchen, his mind started to race. He couldn't focus on one thing at once, but he recognized memories from when he was younger, when Haruko had first came and all of the adventures associated with her staying, then the things that had most recently happened.

For a moment, he remembered the Beast V NT upstairs. He shook his head, trying to clear his head, but to no avail.

Then suddenly, a familiar sharp pain shot through his head. He yelled out a little and lost balance, falling over and managing to catch himself on the kitchen counter, knocking stray silverware and the TV remote he had been looking for off the table.

Suddenly, everything went black.

**/FLCL\**

* * *

><p><strong>(At Medical Mechanica)<strong>

It had taken a little while for the scientists to get Kakashi set up in the armor, but they had finally fitted him into the complex suit. "In a moment, all of the systems associated with the suit will be controlled directly by your nervous system. You will have no difficulty using the system once we finalize the suit's recognition of its new owner." The short man who had been helping Kakashi with his final preparations for the past day.

"Once we are finished here, the suit will become a part of you." The man said. Was that a trace of pride that Kakashi heard in the man's voice? Most likely. he man had seemed very happy about the success of the whole procedure. Kakashi stood completely still as the man had instructed him while he stood behind him and checked the systems of the suit. The man mumbled something about the suit's weapons being ahead of their time.

Then, Kakashi felt a white-hot peircing pain in his spine near the base of his neck. He threw his head back and struggled not to scream in pain. His vision blacked out for a few seconds. Then, as quickly as the pain had come, it dissapeared.

Suddenly, the suit seemed to tighten or loosen in various places. It was taking form to the contours of his body. Suddenly, the suit seemed much lighter, and he was much more aware of his surroundings. The inside of his helmet lighted up with a bright red light, and an interface of the same color popped up inside the visor of the helmet.

"Now, focus on the interface for a moment." The man said. Kakashi did so, and a few square objects came up on the interface. Inside them were strange letters that he did not recognize at first. Then, he was somehow able to understand them. "Focus on the third box to the left," the man said. When Kakashi did so, a new interface came up, showing a model of the suit he was wearing. Several places of the model flashed yellow.

"The flashing yellow lights you see are the various weapons built into the suit. Try to focus on one of them."

He looked down at his left arm. He focused on it for a moment. A split second later, a foot long straight blade quickly extended out of a hidden compartment on the top of his wrist with a metallic _shing_.

Kakashi smirked. He was going to make sure that Naota and his lady friend wished they were never born.

* * *

><p><strong>(?)<strong>

Naota thought he went unconscious for a moment, but he still felt alive and awake. A moment later, he noticed he was still kneeling down. He slowly got up, and looked up to see a strange scene. He seemed to be in an endless empty space, the ceiling far above him pulsing with different colors, mainly red and dark purple. The floor seemed to be made of a sort of silver reflective substance, showing a mirror image of him and the colors pulsing above him.

_Where am I?_ He asked himself.

"You are inside your mind." A voice said. Naota jumped at the voice. The deep voice sounded powerful, and seemed to come from everywhere at once. How had it read his thoughts? He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. Once again, he heard the voice.

"You cannot physically speak here. Speak using your mind." The voice said. Naota shivered a little. He looked around the empty space, looking for anything of interest.

_What is this place?_ Naota thought. "You are in the inner confines of your conscience," The voice said. "Here is where the portal from your brain to the N.O. dimension lies." The sky went completely black, except for many straight red lines pulsing across it from all directions.

"Turn around," The voice said. Naota hesitantly turned around, and backed up a step at what he saw. A sphere about the size of Naota's head floated in the air a few feet away from him. It was made out of a strange, metallic dark metal with a reflective sheen. Many symmetrical grooves lined the sphere, with a red light shining out of them, making a red glow around it.

_Who are you?_ Naota asked.

"I am Atomsk."

* * *

><p><strong>(Naota's kitchen)<strong>

Haruko had heard him yell out and had immediately ran into the kitchen to find him laying facedown on the floor, unconscious. "Naota, wake up!" Haruko said, shaking him to try and wake him up. No response. She rolled him onto his back, seeing that his eyes were wide open. She saw his chest rise and fall normally, and she mentally sighed in relief that he was still breathing. She yelled for Ivan, who came rushing into the kitchen a few moments later.

* * *

><p><strong>(Back in Naota's mind)<strong>

_Why are you here, and what do you want from me?_ Naota asked. The sphere floated closer to him, then flew in a circle around him once, then rushed off to his right, dissapearing into the distance. Naota started to run after it. _Hey, wait!_ He yelled out in his mind. He stopped running after a few seconds, knowing it was no use.

Suddenly, a warm red glow covered him from behind. He turned around, and the sphere was behind him again. He jumped a little, wondering how it had gotten behind him so quickly.

"I wanted to have an audience with the human that was both my prison and my freedom," It said. "The human who has more spirit than other humans with any kind of N.O. power."

"In this time of crisis for the human race, I want to return the favor to the young boy that you were when a similar time was drawing near." It said, the red lines on its spherical body blinking on and off at different intervals.

"I want to help you, Naota Nandaba."

* * *

><p><strong>(Kitchen)<strong>

Ivan knelt down next to the prone Naota, checking him over, as Haruko stood above him, leaning against her pink-colored Epiphone Evolution, which she seemed to have gotten from nowhere.

"Whats wrong with him, Ivan?" Haruko said, the concerned tone obvious in her voice. She lowered her head, closing her eyes tight. Her grip on the neck of the guitar tightened.

"I'm not sure." Ivan said, and he sat the unconscious Naota in one of the dining room chairs, then turned around to see Haruko storming out of the room towards the front door. Ivan quickly followed her out, quickening his pace when he sees Haruko getting on her Vespa with the guitar strapped to her back. Just as she put her helmet on and started the engine, Ivan got in front of the vehicle and held onto the handlebars, keeping her from leaving.

"What are you doing, Haruko?" Ivan asked. Haruko growled a little, and looked towards the massive Medical Mechanica factory at the center of the city. "I can't sit here and wait for them to attack us anymore! I'm not going to sit by and watch while they mess with Naota's mind and not be able to do anything about it!" Haruko revved the Vespa's engine, getting ready to turn onto the street, when Ivan turned the vehicle back towards him, forcing her to stop. Ivan firmly placed his hands on Haruko's shoulders, turning her towards him.

"Now is not the time to get angry. They could be trying to use that anger to lead you into a trap. Naota is a strong boy, and he will pull through, but we just need to be patient for a little longer," Ivan said. Haruko relaxed a little, her grip on the Vespa's handlebars loosening. She took off her helmet and turned off the ignition, then looked back at Ivan.

The two, however, didn't notice as a small black object with a trail of fire and smoke behind it ejected from a port in the side of the Medical Mechanica factory. It drew closer as Ivan tried to calm Haruko down.

"Its going to be okay, Haruko. We just need to-"

Ivan's sentence was cut off as an explosion from the other side of the street threw Ivan and Haruko to the ground, the Vespa tipping over with them.

* * *

><p><strong>(Naota's mind)<strong>

The sky color shifted again, the red transforming into a deep purple which made Naota feel at ease. The voice made a deep chuckling sound. "I see I've found your spirit color," It said. The lights in the sky faded in and out every few seconds, and the lights on the sphere changed to match the purple colors in the sky.

_My what? _Naota asked. The sphere spun in a circle a few times, and its color went back to red. Suddenly, Naota's vision started to darken. "I will tell you that and more when we speak again. Right now, you must go. Next time you want to speak to me..." The voice faded out slowly, and just as it could no longer be heard, an image of the Beast V guitar flashed in his mind.

* * *

><p><strong>(Kitchen)<strong>

Naota suddenly woke up, jumping out of the chair he had been placed in, feeling out of breath. He looked around, seeing the things he knocked off the table scattered all over the floor. He looked into the living room, Ivan and Haruko nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, he heard a crash outside that made the house shake a little. He hurried out of the kitchen, bursting through the door to see the entire street in ruins. Streetlights were knocked over, there were huge cracks in the road and sidewalk, and many cars were flipped onto their sides or backs, and some were demolished. He looked further down the street to see a sight that shook him to his core.

Ivan was lying facedown on the road in a blackened crater in the asphalt. Nearby him, a black-clad figure was holding Haruko a few feet above the ground by her neck. Haruko was gasping for air, the Evolution guitar clutched weakly in one hand, while the other hand tried to pry the hand of her assailant from her neck, to no avail.

At this sight, anger immediately filled Naota. Losing control, he burst into a sprint towards the figure holding Haruko up, unable to hold in the scream of anger that left him. Haruko saw him running and was unable to yell to him to tell him not to do it. Before Naota could ram himself into the enemy, the figure turned around and swung his free arm at Naota, swatting Naota out of the way. Naota rolled to a stop several meters away, trying to get up and figure out what just happened.

When he got up, he looked back at the black-clad figure again. It was wearing a strange suit, somewhat similar to the armor the guards wore at the Galactic Space Police's base, only black in color and with some different shapes in the armor parts.

"Well, look who it is!" The wearer of the suit said, his voice being amplified through speakers in the helmet. He then threw Haruko, who went flying straight into a car parked near them, crushing and bending the car's body a little. Haruko's head dropped to her chest, and she coughed a few times, a trickle of blood coming from the corner of her mouth. The sight of anyone being able to take down Haruko angered Naota even more.

"Who are you?!" Naota yelled at the man, his anger swelling inside of him. The armored figure laughed loudly. Then, the helmet's T-shaped visor flashed , and the helmet started to take itself apart at unseen points in the metal, retracting itself into the neck guard, revealing his face. The identity of the attacker almost made his jaw drop.

"...Kakashi?" Naota said, involuntarily backing up a step. Kakashi smirked, and took a few steps towards Naota. "Thats right, Nandaba. I seem a little more fit for combat now, wouldn't you say?" Kakashi said.

Naota shook his head in disbelief. "Kakashi, if this is about yesterday, I was only defending my friend! Going to Medical Mechanica for revenge isn't going to help you. All they want is the destruction of Earth, and everything on it!"

Kakashi laughed. He reached down and ripped a large chunk of asphalt off of the damaged road. "Well, I'll believe that when I see it. But for now, just die!" Kakashi threw the projectile straight at Naota.

Naota didn't have time to think. His first instinct was to swing, and he did so. He swung his arms as if he were swinging a baseball bat. Suddenly, in a flash of red, the Beast V guitar materialized in his hands, and the body of the guitar collided with Kakashi's projectile, shattering it.

Kakashi didn't expect Naota to completely avoid injury like he did. When Naota turned back towards Kakashi, he had changed drastically. A red aura surrounded him. His eyes glowed orange. A small red bolt of electricity arced from the body of the guitar up to the neck, then up to Naota's arm. Nearby, the single chain link of Haruko's shackle bracelet jingled, attracted to Naota's powerful N.O. channel.

If Naota was in awe of his own transformation, he didn't show it. His eyes were locked with Kakashi's, and he smiled. It was a smile of knowingness, as if a deep intelligence lied behind it. Kakashi, however, was in shock at how Naota had changed. This was nothing like the Naota he had known at school before. He had never believed in magic, but he knew this was something much more than that.

"What the-" Kakashi's words were interrupted as Naota dashed forward in the blink of an eye, swinging the guitar forward. The guitar body hit Kakashi square in the face, and it sent him flying backward, in a collision course for a car parked next to the car Haruko had been thrown into.

Haruko lifted her head up, looking to the side. She laughed weakly at the sight of Kakashi suffering the same punishment she just had moments ago, then lowered her head again, coughing quietly.

Kakashi shook his head to regain his senses, and slowly rose back to his feet. He scowled at Naota. "Alright, we can make a fight about it if you won't accept that you're a dead man!" Kakashi said angrily. His helmet materialized back over his head, the visor flashing red. He quickly turned around, snatching up the demolished car he had been thrown into, then spun around and threw it at Naota.

The aura around Naota flashed from red to purple, and he swung the guitar straight down. Somehow, the car got cut in two straight down the middle. Before the two halves even hit the ground, they dissipated like ashes in the wind, being absorbed into Naota's N.O. channel on his forehead.

Naota had changed again. His eyes were now glowing yellow. There was an armored gauntlet covering his right forearm. He was holding a new weapon. The Beast V guitar had been transformed into a large scythe, the blade pointing upwards like a naginata weapon. There was a smaller blade coming off the other end of the handle, also sticking out straight. He held the scythe in both hands.

Haruko raised her head again, and saw how Naota had changed. Her eyes widened. "_He found it..._" She said under her breath.

Almost as if on cue, thunder sounded in the sky. Gray clouds had been gathering, and the sun dissapeared behind them. The rain first came with a few droplets, before increasing to many, and increasing further, into a downpour.

**(Music start: The Animal by Disturbed, without the short intro.)**

Naota looked up at the sky, and smiled again. That intelligent, all-knowing smile. He flicked the scythe forward, the large blade flicking forward into its normal position with a _shing_. At the same time, another boom of thunder sounded in the sky. He spun the scythe around once, holding it with his left hand dominant.

Kakashi involuntarily backed up a step. He shook his head, remembering what he had come to do. He flicked both of his arms forward, a straight blade unsheathing itself from above either wrist.

"You aren't going to intimidate me!" He yelled. He started running toward Naota, his arm drawn back in an attempt to stab him when he got close enough. Before Kakashi even got the chance to land an attack, Naota sidestepped, swinging the scythe aroung and whacking Kakashi in the back using the flat side of the blade, giving him a boost that sent him even further away.

Kakashi skidded to a halt a few feet away, quickly turning around and dashing towards Naota again. He swung his arm at Naota, trying to cut him straight across the chest, but Naota swung the scythe up and deflected it.

**(Music stop)**

Meanwhile, while Kakashi kept trying to score hits on Naota to no avail, Haruko was slowly trying to recover from her injuries. She reached inside her vest, taking a small, sealed vial containing a light blue liquid out of a pocket on the inside of the vest. She popped the top off with her thumb and downed half of the concoction.

Within seconds, her pain slowly withdrew from her body. She wiped the small trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, and started to get up. She looked over at the small crater Ivan had been left in, and saw the man slowly recovering himself as well. She walked over to his kneeling form, limping slightly, not taking her eyes off of Naota.

_I knew it would happen eventually, but I didn't think he would be ready for the change this soon,_ she thought. She got over to Ivan, and handed him the vial. "Drink this." She said, trying to keep her voice down, even with the sound of metal deflecting metal keeping her voice from carrying very far. Ivan said nothing, and gulped down the drink. He gagged slightly at the taste.

"What... is this stuff?" Ivan said drowsily, still trying to recover from the beating he had taken not too long ago. Haruko smiled a little, and took the empty vial from Ivan's hands and stuffed it back into her vest pocket. "Just a little pick-me-up." She pointed over towards Naota and Kakashi, who were still locked in battle. "Look."

Ivan looked over at the two fighters, and coughed a little at what he saw. "What the... What happened to Naota?" He said. He started getting up, the pain-dulling effects of Haruko's draught already numbing his wounds. Haruko got up too, putting an arm underneath his to help him stand.

"Something very good." Haruko said, a slight smirk forming on her face. She lifted her arm up and glanced at her shackle bracelet. The Atomsk symbol was changing from red to purple, then back every few seconds. But, the chain wasn't being attracted towards Naota like it usually would be.

Kakashi was getting tired of having his attacks deflected. At one point, he had a chance to turn the tables. He waited for Naota to spin the scythe straight up, then he snatched it out of his hands, spun around and attempted to cut Naota in two. But before the blade even touched him, he dissapeared in a short flash of purple and red light, almost instantly reappearing right behind Kakashi.

Nearby, Haruko's emotions were a mix of awe and thankfulness. _An N.O. jump_, Haruko thought, _how can he do that already?_

He pulled the scythe out of Kakashi's hands, spun the scythe so that the short, straight blade faced towards the back of Kakashi's head, and he jabbed the weapon forward, purposely missing his mark by an inch, the blade scraping against Kakashi's helmet slightly. Kakashi saw the blade at the very side of his visor, and went dead still.

Naota smiled, leaned forward toward the other side of Kakashi's head. "You know... That would have killed you if it were just an inch to the left..." He said quietly. Kakashi growled, spun around and attempted to gut Naota with the blade on his right wrist, but Naota dissapeared again.

Naota didn't reappear for a few seconds. When he did reappear, he was floating five feet above the ground behind Kakashi. The suited combatant spun around, and aimed his arm at Naota. The blade above his wrist shot off of his armor at a speed too fast for the untrained eye to follow. Naota easily deflected it.

Kakashi sighed, and a new blade popped into place where the last one was. "This is starting to bore me, Nandaba." Naota smiled, and spun the scythe in his hand a few times. "Well, then we're both even. I was hoping Medical Mechanica would send more of a challenge."

An arc of purple static raced across the blade of Naota's scythe. He grinned, then he drew his arm back, and threw the scythe as hard as he possible could. The weapon began to spin faster for the eye to follow, flying towards Kakashi. Any normal person wouldn't have been able to do anything...

But Kakashi's heightened senses gave him a slight edge. He tracked the sythe's spinning trajectory, then as it got close enough, he caught the weapon. If his movement had been even a nanosecond off, he probably would have had an arm sliced off. But, he didn't stop there. He spun around and used the velocity of the weapon against its owner, sending it back to Naota. Naota caught it with ease.

While Naota and Kakashi were taking turns throwing the scythe, Haruko was quickly but silently rushing up behind Kakashi, intent on a surprise attack. When Haruko got behind the enemy, she innocently tapped on his helmet with the headstock of her guitar. When Kakashi turned around, he was greeted by the body of a guitar smashing into the front of his helmet.

Haruko continued to land a few blows on Kakashi, stunning him for a short amount of time. But, the armored fighter predicted one of Haruko's strikes, and caught the body of the guitar in one hand before it could hit him. As Kakashi drew his hand back in an attempt to push the blade straight into Haruko's abdomen, Naota rushed from the air to the ground in a split second, pushing the blade of his scythe between the two, seperating them.

Then, Naota gave Haruko a light push backward with the blade. Haruko was about to ask what he thought he was doing... But stopped as she saw Naota swing the flat of the blade from above his head, which he couldn't have done with Haruko next to him. The blow was powerful enough to send Kakashi flying into a house across the street, bursting through the wall and caving in part of the house.

Haruko winced a little, laughing, and Naota just smiled. The house had nobody living in it; it had had a 'For Sale' sign planted in the yard for about a month since then. The two stood and watched for a moment as they saw the rubble shift and move, Kakashi lifting himself out of it. After he got standing up again, he heard someone burst into laughter.

He looked, and he saw Ivan, bending over with his hands on his knees, laughing loud enough for the echo to go across the whole street. While he laughed, Ivan looked up at Kakashi.

"From badass to lame-ass, am I right?" Ivan's own comment made him burst into a fresh wave of laughter. Kakashi snarled under his helmet, and pointed his arm at the man. He fired the blade on his wrist.

"Hey, now!" Ivan exclaimed, picking up a thick peice of asphalt about as big as a tile from the ground and holding it up, letting the projectile hit and stick inside it. After the blade hit, the peice of asphalt cracked and crumbled, and Ivan let it all fall, excluding one baseball-sized peice, which he threw at Kakashi in return. His throw must have been more powerful and accurate than Naota and Haruko thought, because the peice of rock slammed right into Kakashi's helmet, making him recoil a bit.

After that, Ivan started laughing even _more_. Kakashi growled and shook his head, turning back towards his two main opponents, only to see Naota standing right in front of him, hovering a few inches off the ground. He backed up a step, but didn't have time to retaliate, as Naota planned on getting the first move in.

He grabbed his opponent by his arm, and pulled him out of the house, sending him running and struggling to stay balanced. Before Kakashi could stop, he ran right into another hit from Haruko. That hit sent him back towards Naota, who gave him a kick in the torso to send him back to Haruko. They continued to send Kakashi back and forth for a little while, Ivan watching and struggling not to break out into laughter again.

Eventually, Kakashi decided that enough was enough. He activated the temporary thrusters in his boots and wrists, sending him flying up a few meters. Due to his inability to stay balanced from Naota and Haruko's attacks, though, he couldn't control his trajectory. He went up in the air in Ivan's direction, and his fall trajectory threatened to make the armored fighter land on Ivan.

When Kakashi was about to land, Ivan simply sidestepped out of the way. The Russian man didn't even flinch when Kakashi impacted. A small dust cloud temporarily dulled any vision, but cleared as Naota walked towards them, spinning his scythe around to dispel the dust. Haruko followed close behind.

Kakashi was laying on his back, his only visible moving was his breathing. Ivan smiled, and knelt down, getting his face right up to the visor of the helmet.

"It's sad, really." The man said, "We worried so much about an attack from Medical Mechanica that would give us a run for our money, but it turns out that we worried for nothing." He chuckled a bit, and have the helmet a single pat, then rose back to his feet. Naota smiles a little at the remark, and spun his scythe around once before it reformed itself back into its original guitar form. Then, the aura surrounding hin dispersed, and the gauntlet on his hand dissapeared. His eyes returned to their normal icy blue color.

Haruko got opposite of Ivan, knelt down, and moved her hands all over the helmet. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, and there was a small click as Haruko pressed a hidden button, making the helmet retract into the neck guard of the suit. Kakashi looked unharmed, except for the small trickle of blood going down his cheek.

Suddenly, Haruko made a fist, drew her arm back, and belted Kakashi one right in the nose. The defeated opponent moaned in pain, bringing an armored hand up to cover his injured face. Haruko scoffed, and got back up.

"That's what you get for throwing me into a car, you asshole." She said, before swinging her Evolution bass around once, then striding back towards Naota's home without looking back. On the way, she got her Vespa back into a standing position before going inside. Ivan and Naota both looked at each other, shrugged, then looked back at Kakashi.

"Go back and tell Medical Mechanica that we aren't as weak as we look. We have a little ace up our sleeve." Ivan said, giving Naota a clap on the shoulder before following Haruko to the house. Naota stood there for a minute, just looking at his enemy. He frowned a little.

"Kakashi, I wish I could have stopped you from picking the wrong side." Naota said sadly. "I tried to tell you that siding with Medical Mechanica was a bad move, but I guess I can't change your mind now. I just hope you will learn from your mistakes." Kakashi had heard Naota's voice, but he knew that there was a greater power behind him that controlled his words.

Naota turned around, going back to his house as well. Kakashi was left dazed and confused, laying on the destroyed road.

_What the hell just happened?_

**/FLCL\**

Naota sat on his bed, his Beast V guitar in his lap. He plucked the strings lazily. Haruko sat in his rolling desk chair, giggling and spinning around in it comically. Ivan had already left, convinced that Medical Mechanica would give them a little time to recover.

_They just need a bit of time to lick their wounds, is all. They will most definitely strike again, and in greater force. But, I know we can handle them. I mean, we were able to hold of that guy in the suit today, didn't we? You know how to get a hold of me, Naota. Take care, both of you._

Naota scratched his head with one hand, following the patterns of the guitar's body with the other. Haruko and him had already talked about that had happened to him.

_It seems that Atomsk has good intentions for you,_ she had said, tapping on the Atomsk symbol burned into her shackle bracelet. _It seems that he allowed you to tap into his nearly infinite reserves of N.O. energy in order to fight Kakashi without getting beaten._

_...But, it turns out you have a lot more of your own power than Atomsk thought. You took his energy and transformed it, used it to to fuel your own little power trip. At first, you used his energy, then you seemed to carry it over to your own reserve that you had never known about before, and use it as a catalyst to harness it.. You used N.O. in every way you saw fit, and you used it to fight. From a spectator's point of view, you could have just as easily been mistaken for Atomsk with a bad cold, relatively speaking. In other words, you were temporarily rivaled in N.O. power with Atomsk._

Naota knew he had a powerful N.O. channel, from what Haruko told him, but he didn't think it was _that_ powerful. N.O. power that could match Atomsk?

_Wow, _Naota had said. _Yeah, wow,_ Haruko had replied.

It was an hour or two since they had fought Kakashi. Naota's father and grandfather eventually came home. His father was freaking out about the damage done to the street, and his grandfather was babbling about how kids these days didn't know how to handle fireworks correctly, or something along the lines. It was actually quite funny for Naota and Haruko to listen to.

Mamimi came home as well, sporting a new camera. It turned out that Canti had been with her, helping her shop. Mamimi questioned the destruction left in the street, and the two made a little cover story to keep her satisfied. Canti, however, was told the real story. After Naota was done explaining, Canti was left scratching his T.V. head confusedly. Haruko gave the screen a little flick. "Way to look out for us, big guy. Maybe next time?" She had said.

Canti, of course, promised that he would be there to help next time. The combination of symbols that Canti flashed on his screen to relay the message was comical. A chibi version of Kakashi getting slapped around by a chibi Canti was answer enough. Eventually, everyone went to bed, including Haruko and Naota.

Haruko had fell asleep on his computer chair rather than in bed, which amused Naota a bit, but he let her sleep. She had taken quite a beating from Kakashi today, the fact that she had recovered so quickly amazed him. After all was said and done, he laid down in bed, lost in thought.

_We may have drove Medical Mechanica back today, but I know that they aren't going to stop just because of one defeat. Something tells me that this is only the beginning of their true plan to finally get rid of them._

_'You are probably right about that,' _a voice had said deep in his mind. Naota instantly knew who it was, and huffed in dissapointment.

_Oh yeah, that's right. Atomsk is in my head now._

_Great._

**(End Credits)**

Haruko's voice: Holy crap, my Ta-kun is so awesome! He really beat the crap out of that Kakashi guy today, didn't he? Well, don't get out of your seats yet; There is still more to come! How will Naota use his newfound power now? If it were me, I would storm right into Medical Mechanica, and be like "Hey everyone, I'm here! Check out my huge awesome scythe! _Whoosh! Whoosh!_" But, I know my little Ta-kun isn't that reckless. Well, we'll see what happens next very soon! Next, on FLCL Second... Truths Found in Ambient Lies!

_**Well folks, its finally done! Man, this chapter really smashed up my brain. It confused me to the point of it not getting finished for a while... But I guess now that its all done, I can try to work faster.**_

_**I got inspiration for Naota's true N.O. form from a certain scythe fighting style. The gauntlet being worn on the dominant hand (Naota's right, but using his left arm constantly, due to his ambidextrous-ness). I chose the scythe as his weapon because of inspiration from a little game you might know, called Darksiders II. The main character from that game is practically my idol!Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter!**_

_**-Nyx (formerly Gman)**_


End file.
